Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Although I have wished the Minister of State well personally with what is, as Deputy Ó Laoghaire said, an unenviable portfolio, I do so again now. There have, however, been years of underinvestment, and I use the word "underinvestment" because, after all, the outcomes of early intervention and successful mental health treatment are an investment as much as education is. Ireland's mental health system was already under immense pressure because of the lack of investment before this pandemic, and now services are stretched even more. Our communities are in dire need of funding or investment to support them through this tough time. I know the Government is putting together a budget and the Minister of State will influence that, not just because she is a Minister of State but also because she is a woman. I do not care who hears me saying this. I believe women work differently and know how to impress on people the real, serious issues. I want the Minister of State to remember, however, that for every number and statistic quoted in the House there is a person. It is a child, brother, sister, mother, father or grandparent, not just a number, and that is what worries me about the statistics. There may be 1,020 children on a waiting list, but they are all somebody's brother or sister. What the Minister of State does will affect all those people we know and love.

Mental Health Reform, the national coalition of 70-plus organisations, has launched its pre-budget submission and sent it to every Deputy. It states that there are fewer staff in the system now than there was in 2008, yet mental ill health is at epidemic level, and worse it will get because of the pandemic, although not just because of the pandemic alone. We need an out-of-hours service, and not just in Wexford because it appears from the contributions of Deputies that it is needed all over the country. We need a 24-hour crisis service to give people at risk a proper chance of survival.

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This would give their close family and loved ones with no expertise in coping with these situations assurances that there is help at hand and a service that lets them know that we, as politicians, have their back. We, as politicians, understand that the risk of suicide in mental health patients is grave and we need a 24-hour service that can distinguish care differentials between adults and children. As it stands, many communities depend greatly on voluntary organisational services. One such service of which I cannot speak highly enough in County Wexford is MarineWatch, which patrols Wexford Bridge on a nightly basis to prevent the loss of life. No amount of gratitude from me or the public would suffice to express the value of what these people do. I hope the support and services of voluntary sector organisations like this will not go unnoticed when it comes to the Department and the Government putting a budget together for 2021.

Mental Health Commission says we need at least an additional €80 million put into mental health services. I call that an investment. Some €80 million is needed as an immediate measure to provide for an increase in the number of mental health patients and issues that have arisen during Covid. If there is any doubt about funding these services, let me tell the Minister of State what can be achieved and provide the good news story she is looking for. It is not all doom and gloom. I have had numerous phone calls from parents whose children got through the leaving certificate, but only because they were lucky enough to access services at a time when their children needed intervention to deal with mental health issues. If they were left untreated, they might not have been able to complete the leaving certificate. As it stands, they got that treatment and are now applying for college places. There are those who are applying to join organisations and start careers they never thought they would have because of their poor mental health.

The point is that the mental health services work, but only when they can be accessed. There are good news stories of achievement and survival but the problem is accessibility and availability. I do not accept it is just a financial deficit. I recently wrote to the Minister of State about a vacant position for a child psychologist for the CAMHS unit in Wexford. I thank her for a prompt response but I do not under any circumstances accept the reason is a HR issue. I will not quote the circumstances because they are in themselves devastating but if it was the private sector, I imagine it would be a legal matter. I will have to take this up again. In term of the impediment to the appointment of a child psychologist being a HR issue, Wexford CAMHS unit being without a child psychologist and there being no other applicant, it is fundamental to the success of CAMHS in Wexford that a child psychologist is appointed and we get over the HR issue in order to save lives. We will take that up again. The system is archaic in taking that approach. We have to restore the faith of the people in Wexford in the Government and have the staff requirements filled in the CAMHS unit in Wexford because the issue is ongoing for years. If we have one applicant who wants to take up the position of child psychologist and if we are told it is not a funding issue, how can we say "No" to this qualified person who has held the position before?

The Minister of State is from the neighbouring county of Waterford and I want her to visit the unit in Wexford, which would be a trip on the Passage East car ferry. The least the staff, who are under severe pressure, deserve is a visit from the Minister of State and they can inform her first hand. I do not expect it to be next week or the week after but she needs to visit that unit. I thank the Minister of State for listening to me. It is devastating to hear that what we are hearing tonight from every Deputy appears to be rhetoric. It is not rhetoric. Mental health and the elderly people in our society are as close as it comes to the education of society.

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