James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In its key message, the final report of the youth mental health pathfinder project states that urgent action is required on youth mental health in Ireland. It states that evidence shows the majority of children and young people in Ireland are highly resilient but suicide and self-harm rates among our children and young people are extremely high by international standards. The rate for young men is the third highest in the EU and the rate for young women is the highest in the EU. It states that Connecting for Life, the national suicide reduction strategy, prioritised young people but is insufficiently clear about how, when or where to take action and by whom and a sift of the evidence shows we are not serving children and young people well enough.

The Minister of State said the motivation for the model came from analysis that no single Department or Government agency has the key to all of the policy responses required to address the issues around youth mental health in Ireland. That is true and it is clear from the pathfinder report. The Minister of State also noted that the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform, together with other participating Departments, were continuing their ongoing collaboration in delivering this new innovative complex project. All the other Departments have done their job but the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is not doing its job. The pathfinder report is dated March 2017 and I understand it was finalised last December but we are now coming into the second half of 2018. I reiterate the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health was reported as saying that a timeline for full implementation cannot yet be agreed as the participating Departments have not received final approval from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform which is holding this up and which is not prioritising mental health. That Department and its Minister, Deputy Donohoe, should be here to answer this question today and not the Ministers of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Jim Daly or Deputy Finian McGrath. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform needs to step up to the mark.

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