Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of mental health services in Sligo, particularly at Saint Columba's hospital, in the context of the programme for Government and the commitment to ensure there are proper mental health services in place. The out-of-hours service is a genuine problem. Let me give the example of a young man who has a long history with the service. He self-harms but when he arrives at the service out of hours, there is no registrar and nobody there to see him. There is a junior registrar on call but that person is also working in the main hospital and is seeing patients there. A backup service is supposed to be in place but the young man sits and waits for four to five hours without any service and then has to go. This has happened on numerous occasions because of the current circumstances at St. Columba's. I want the Government to commit to proper staffing. A new mental health service is being built on the grounds of the Sligo University Hospital but we need proper staffing. There are not enough staff at present to address the very serious issues people are dealing with.

See this speech in context