Dáil debates

Thursday, 10 May 2018

Report on Mental Health Care: Motion

 

5:05 pm

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Less than five minutes will certainly do me because in recent months I have taken the opportunity on numerous occasions to deal with the issue of mental health and, in particular, the situation in my county. The Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, is here again this evening. She always seems to be here for these debates. I appreciate that because she takes a very genuine interest in this area of health.

I will begin by supporting what Deputy Buckley said. The committee should remain in place in order to keep a focus on mental heath. Since he became a Member of the House, my colleague, Deputy Browne, has given much of his time to studying this issue. Much of his work has been done behind the scenes. He even came to our own constituency and listened to people attentively for three hours one night and took on board their suggestions and ideas. I welcome that.

There have been some welcome changes in recent years. It is good to see a better conversation taking place on this issue. I would like to use a phrase from an old radio programme in the station at which I used to work - "Let's talk". On so many occasions when people are suffering from depression, I find that one of the greatest avenues to support them, or to perhaps bring them out of the deep depression in which they find themselves, is to talk. It might be a very simple conversation. One might go and have a cup of tea with them. It is a very simple thing.

I wish to comment on social media and the effect it has on us. I always refer to text messaging, which, I acknowledge, is very handy, as silent talking, if people know what I mean. Silence can be golden but it can also sometimes be detrimental to the health of people who desperately need to talk to someone. They may be at a very low ebb in their lives and just do not meet a person when they really want to. Sadly, that situation in which they do not meet that person often leads to tragedy. I know of such situations and I am sure that other Members are aware of similar cases as well.

I acknowledge that the mental health budget is improving but I want to discuss the example of Roscommon. The Minister of State is probably tired of hearing me refer to Roscommon. I know that Deputies Browne and Buckley have both spoken about Roscommon and the need to implement the 27 recommendations suggested by the independent review group that published its report in late 2017. I would say again that there has been very little movement on those recommendations. There has been some movement but it is crucial that all the recommendations should be implemented as quickly as possible.

Before I conclude, I return again to my county and the mental health centres there. As the Minister of State probably knows from replying to a Topical Issue matter I raised, the Rosalie unit in Castlerea, County Roscommon, used to cater for 33 people with mild mental disabilities. It now caters for 12 patients and the HSE is refusing to take any more in. The unit is desperately needed. It is a beautiful centre but the HSE keeps telling me and other politicians that these people need the psychiatry of later life care. I beg to differ. The people in that centre have built up relationships and friendships with the staff there. Taking them away from what they are used to is making them unhappy. I keep saying this. We should not be making people or their families unhappy. I worry about matters of that nature. We must get the HSE to understand this. I have difficulty getting the HSE staff in my area to understand it. I acknowledge that some of these people are experts in their fields but I do not think they are necessarily right about the way they handle these situations. This is a matter of concern to me.

That said, what is happening here this evening is good. We must provide the necessary funding. As Deputy Buckley has said, there are some outstanding front-line staff who are doing an awful lot and who want to see the services improve. I will conclude my few comments with the phrase I used earlier - "Let's talk".

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