Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Regional Group for tabling the motion and keeping mental health on the agenda, and Sinn Féin will speak in favour of it today.

The tragedy of suicide has touched nearly all communities and sectors in Ireland. The Government relies on non-governmental organisations to plug gaps in mental health services but we must become proactive rather than reactive and put in place support services and policies to help prevent suicide from occurring. Access to counselling may often be a barrier to people obtaining appropriate mental health supports and we must start to move towards parity of esteem in mental health provision.

One of the major gaps in services commonly experienced by those in distress is a lack of care outside the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window. Currently, there is no State-wide provision of 24-7 mental health crisis services at a community level. People should have access to mental health treatment where and when they need it. Mental health concerns do not just become apparent between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., they do not take the weekend off and they do not take a break during a pandemic.

In response to a parliamentary question asked this week on the number of people who have died by suicide this year, I was told that:

All unnatural deaths, which includes deaths from intentional self-harm must be referred to the Coroner's Office. However, the Coroner's Court did not hold public hearings as a consequence of the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this would impact on the number of deaths registered and subsequently assigned an Underlying Cause of Death of intentional self-harm.

In layman's terms, this means that deaths by suicide are not being counted in real time.

However, on 17 September, the Tánaiste stated in this Chamber that the most recent figures he had seen indicated a "decrease in suicide in Ireland and a decrease in people self-harming". He also said "That is very welcome but we have a long way to go.". Where did the Tánaiste get these figures and could we have access to them? Could they be shared as we need transparency? I want the Government's assurance that data will be collected retrospectively.

It is quite worrying that I, as an Opposition spokesperson on mental health issues, cannot get access to the number of people who died by suicide this year but the Tánaiste apparently can. Data are really important as they inform policy and allow public representatives like me to suggest solutions. Without this information, we are hampered in making those suggestions that could help reduce death by suicide. Why is that? Does the Minister of State have those statistics? If not, I suggest there be a conversation with the Tánaiste and ask him for the information in order that it can be shared with all of us.

I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Sub-Committee on Mental Health and last week we received representations from general practitioners. I asked plainly what one action would help them to help people suffering from poor mental health and they asked for ease of access to counselling. In Sinn Féin's alternative budget, we said we would deliver exactly that, were we in government. We would introduce universal and free counselling on GP referral, and this could be easily rolled out in order to make a major difference in people getting the help they need where and when they need it.

It was also stated at the meeting that GPs would have capacity in their buildings to host a counsellor in practice. Imagine having a one-stop shop where a person's physical and mental health needs could be met at the same time. Failure to appropriately resource mental healthcare in general practitioners has led to an over-reliance on drug therapy. Any move from a policy of "every ill has a pill" is welcome and access to talk therapies like counselling is central to such a change. Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest but they just need political will to have them implemented.

I again thank the Regional Group for keeping mental health on the agenda today. It is very welcome that we are having this discussion.

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