Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was contacted by a parent of an 18-year-old young man who had an acute mental illness. He suffered from it for approximately a year. She told me he had regular appointments when he was under the adolescent services and that the support he got was very good, but since he turned 18 in February he has only had two appointments. He was supposed to have an appointment on 30 September but it was cancelled at short notice. He was promised there would be a follow-up phone call but it never came. When the family rang the clinic they were put through to another doctor who told them they had reached the wrong person and then hung up. He eventually got a prescription. Can face-to-face appointments for people with mental health issues be rolled out again? There have been three suicides in my locality in the past month. Two 21-year-olds and a 16-year-old took their own lives. There have also been several attempted suicides by young people. Mental health supports are vital.

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