Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a song called "Any Tipperary Town". If the Minister of State stopped in any street in any town in Tipperary, from Borrisokane to Carrick-on-Suir, and asked about mental health facilities, he would be told by anyone he stopped on the street that there are none there. He said €24 million was spent on mental health services in Tipperary in 2017. I honestly find it hard to know where it has been spent because the services are just not there. We have a crisis.

I was elected to the Dáil in February 2016 and this is the topic on which I have spoken most since then. One of the most potent images I saw last Thursday night was pairs of shoes left at the front of the hall, which represented the people in our county who have committed suicide since 2012. The number of shoes there was frightening in the extreme. As I said already, we listened to family members say that if there was any kind of adequate service, their family members would still be alive. We are getting meetings with Ministers, and the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, has met us on a number of occasions but we need money and services put in place. Shortly after I was elected to this House, we were promised a Jigsaw project by the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee. That is over two years ago and that still has not happened. We do not want Ministers agreeing with us; we need money put in place and we need beds now in both north and south Tipperary.

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