Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have just finished a telephone call with the principal of a post-primary school. One of the many things we discussed was the pressure and stress her students facing and, in particular, the anxiety and mental health pressures they are under. She has never seen anything like it. It is an absolutely enormous issue. There is no doubt that many of these issues have been exacerbated by Covid. Social outlets have been closed off and the world has seemed very disturbed, disrupted, frightening and worrying. That has caused significant issues. When it is added to the fact that mental health services for children and young adults was totally inadequate in the first place, particularly in the part of the world from which I come, it is a recipe for disaster.

There are 2,200 people on waiting lists for CAMHS in the Cork and Kerry region, with 160 or more of them waiting for more than a year and some for as long as 18 months. There is no excuse for that in the context of Covid or in any other context. It is putting families under incredible pressure. It is not the case that someone makes an appointment and waits for it and hopes things are okay. The family has to deal with the consequences of the pressure and strain all the time. Doing so against the background of the pandemic is extremely difficult. I once again urge the Minister of State to try to tackle that issue. There are similar problems in universities, where demand for mental health supports has doubled since the pandemic began.

A report by the Mental Health Commission found that 15% of those over the age of 60 suffer from a mental illness. In a very different but very real way, older people have been put in an extremely difficult position, particularly those in care settings such as nursing homes, as a result of social isolation. Even those who live in their own homes do not have the social interaction they once had, as social outlets have been closed off to them too. It is an issue that we need to talk about more. We need to factor it into our solutions. We really need to focus on it in terms of resources as we emerge from Covid restrictions.

I agree with the point made by Deputy Ward regarding statistics. We are not getting the full picture we need.

I have previously made the point that we need to ensure that those graduating from universities with a psychology degree have the opportunity to continue in that career. At the moment, many of them cannot afford to become psychologists. We need to work on that issue and I will keep raising it with the Minister of State.

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