Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While some progress is being made with regard to mental health services, it is a slow process and not something for which the Government should take credit. I thank Mental Health Reform and its CEO, Dr. Shari McDaid, who is moving on, for their tireless work in highlighting and pressurising the Government to act.

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People, young and old, are talking more openly about their mental health. It has taken time to break down many of the old prejudices which in the past stigmatised mental health and those with mental health issues. The credit for such progress is down to individuals who have personal experience of mental health issues themselves or within their families and communities. Their initiative and passion resulted in many local support groups being founded. It was because of such local community initiatives that so many others in our communities found that they were not alone and had somewhere and someone to turn to when they needed help.

Mental health issues do not discriminate. They affect everyone regardless of gender, sexual orientation or demographics. Austerity has also had a major impact on people's mental health. Mental health is linked to socioeconomic circumstance and people have not recovered from the long years of austerity and in fact many people in the communities I represent have not felt any recovery from austerity at all. Mental health issues can affect a family member, a work colleague, a close friend or a neighbour. These issues know no bounds. Statistics show that one in four of us will experience mental health problems. Studies also show that many people live with the symptoms of mental ill-health for long periods without accessing mental health advice or treatment.

Mental health is not a priority for the Government. If the Government was serious about making mental health a priority, it would give the Department the resources and funding to develop a new mental health Act to meet the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities treaty requirements.

There is clearly a crisis in mental health. There is an inadequate provision of services and a lack of proper resourcing for existing mental health services. There are insufficient staffing levels and mental health services are haemorrhaging staff at an extraordinary rate. These people are not being replaced. In fact, there are more than 2,600 fewer staff working in mental health services than the Government's recommended staffing level.

More people die by suicide each year in Ireland than on the roads and yet only a fraction of the Government's budget is spent on suicide prevention. In 2008, for example, €45 million was spent on road safety and accident prevention measures while only €4.5 million was spent on suicide prevention in the same period. The introduction of 24-7 crisis intervention services is slow and behind schedule. No extra funding for the development of such services was included in the budget. The absence of 24-7 intervention services will actually cost lives. Mental health crises do not occur during set hours or on a nine-to-five basis, they are, by their very nature, unpredictable and unexpected. If someone is experiencing a serious mental health crisis, he or she has few options available. A person can go to the Garda or to the accident and emergency department. Neither of these would offer the appropriate care that is required for someone experiencing a mental health crisis. Statistics show that more than one in five individuals are repeat attenders for self-harm. Most are sent home after a few hours and will have received little care.

In general, mental health services are available Monday to Friday on a 24-7 basis, but a major anomaly is that they are not available around the clock on Saturdays and Sundays. We also have had many situations where people with suicidal ideation are being turned away from accident and emergency departments. The Government made a commitment that there would be psychiatrists available in accident and emergency departments 24-7. Those with mental health issues who present at accident and emergency departments generally have to wait a number of hours before being seen by a psychiatrist. At that stage, it can be the case that the individual's psychotic condition has changed or that he or she may show improvement while waiting. This can lead to an inaccurate view of the individual's true mental state being formed. That also can happen when an individual presents at a Garda station.

If it is really serious about tackling the crisis in mental health, the Government must put in place fit-for-purpose mental health services as a matter of urgency.

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