Dáil debates

Wednesday, 3 April 2019

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Mental Health Services Provision

2:40 pm

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

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge that nobody expects there to be somebody there every minute of the day but, at the same time, the level of difficulty that people come across in these situations is acute. The Minister of State mentioned the out-of-hours service in Ballymote. Much of the time that service consists of one member of staff who is alone in the building and very often feels vulnerable. The out-of-hours service is far from perfect in this respect.

I know we cannot comment on an individual case but many of the reasons a person is turned away is because the beds are all full. There are no beds and no space or capacity. That is certainly a real situation. I know a new mental health unit is being built in Sligo but this is certainly the problem in St. Columba's at the moment and the main reason people are being turned away.

The Minister of State mentioned the recruitment of staff. Does the recruitment of staff for mental health services go through the national recruitment service? The Minister of State nodded his head to indicate that it does. The amount of time it is taking is absolutely outrageous. When the mental health service in Sligo and Leitrim decides to recruit someone and advertises, the first problem is that an advertisement can be made for only one person per day in the service nationally, for some peculiar reason that nobody seems to be getting a hold of. That is ridiculous. When the service does advertise, it can take up to six months to recruit the person. It is diabolical that we are standing over this situation. There is no reason for it other than that somebody somewhere decided to draw up a set of rules by which everybody has to live, as if it is the reality of life. It is not the reality of life.

The Minister of State has put out the concept that people will be able to have online consultation. When will this happen? If he is saying this is the answer he is putting forward, I will not be sceptical. I will embrace it and ask to see it. When can it happen? If the Minister of State is saying this can happen, surely there should be no reason we have to wait one year, two years or five years for somebody to write a report or a consultant to do a report on it. It should happen immediately. The Minister of State should at least tell us there will be a pilot and that it will be in the Sligo and Leitrim area. Will he give that commitment today?

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