Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply but I might as well have been looking at the blank side of the page. It was totally inadequate.

This scandal is happening all over the country, not just specifically in Waterford. The Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and the Minister for Health have copies of protected disclosures from personnel in mental health services. They have not been acted on, however, in the past six months. It is appalling and atrocious how patients are treated.

For Christ’s sake, will the Government do one thing right? Will it respect the people who tell the truth in this country? Will the Government respect the patients in the mental health services and the staff who are doing their best? Of all things, the Government cannot expect young people to sit 31 hours on a chair and 11 hours on a trolley only to be told there is nobody to see them.

Mental health services are shambolic. If the Government does not start investing in people and stop giving us fantasy figures, we will have more deaths on the books. It will be the Government’s fault. Will the Minister of State take this issue back to the Minister responsible? The time for talking is over. It is time for action because people are suffering. I will not be responsible for another death but the Government will be.

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