Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me time to talk about the important issue of the impact of Covid-19 on women to mark International Women's Day on Monday, 8 March.

As we stand here today I want to think of all those we have lost in the last 12 months due to Covid-19 and especially the women who will not see International Women's Day next Monday.

I will focus specifically on the mental health impact of the pandemic on women and young girls in Ireland. Mental health difficulties experienced by women are well known, with an increased prevalence of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and self-harm among the female population. A proportion of women will also experience perinatal mental health difficulties. While the mental health impact of Covid-19 is yet to be fully understood, the pandemic has had an adverse impact on the mental health of women and girls. CSO data shows that in April 2020, more than one in three female respondents had a low satisfaction score for overall life, up from approximately one in ten in 2018. In addition, the percentage of respondents reporting that they felt “lonely”, “very nervous”, or “downhearted or depressed” was much higher for women than for men.

An increase in eating disorder presentations in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic is being reported both in Ireland and internationally. There were significant increases in referrals to the three existing specialist eating disorder teams in Ireland in 2020 compared to 2019. Four in every five assessments last year were female. Some €3.9 million has been made available to the national clinical programme for eating disorders and as Minister with special responsibility for mental health I am fully committed to ensuring this funding is spent in full in 2021 to complete the three existing specialist eating disorder teams and establish three new teams.

Gender has a significant impact on mental health and the risk factors for poor mental health outcomes among women include a range of socio-economic indicators including precarious employment or the absence of work. There is no doubt that the pandemic has adversely affected many women’s mental health as they are disproportionately represented as frontline health workers, where 80% of all healthcare workers in Ireland are women. Furthermore, retail, domestic and caring job roles are predominately catered for by women. A higher proportion of women are caring for a dependent family member or friend because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The mental health of women in abusive relationships who have been in lockdown with their abuser has also been negatively affected. Of course, other vulnerable and marginalised women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. According to reports from the Garda, domestic violence increased by almost 25% since the lockdown period began. Women's Aid has reported a 43% increase in responses to its 24-hour helpline between March and June 2020.

Older women cocooning have faced considerable challenges in terms of isolation and feelings of loneliness.

Of course, a negative mental health outcome for our population from this pandemic is not inevitable if we set about responding to the challenges in a cohesive manner. In line with WHO guidance, the HSE published a psychosocial framework in January 2021. This builds on a range of supports introduced in 2020 in response to Covid-19, including self-help and psychosocial first aid supports for staff. The framework acknowledges the impact of the pandemic on mental health in all areas of society and identifies priority groups, including health care workers and people bereaved due to Covid-19. The framework provides a cohesive, co-ordinated, consistent and collaborative approach to the provision of mental health services and supports across five key levels from mental health promotion to specialist supports.

Our new national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, includes a specific recommendation to establish a dedicated project to ensure that mental health priorities and services are gender sensitive and that women’s mental health is specifically and sufficiently addressed through implementation of the policy. The national implementation and monitoring committee, tasked with driving implementation of Sharing the Vision, has been established and work, while at an early stage, is progressing. This includes collaboration with the Department’s taskforce on women’s health to advance the specific recommendation on women’s mental health.

To address issues of isolation, there are a number of supports that people can avail of including the Community Call which provides local helplines through local authorities to deliver practical supports and befriending; the Keep Well campaign which provides valuable information on supporting people through the difficult months ahead; and the ALONE national support line which is run in collaboration with the Department of Health and the HSE.

To conclude, a cross sectoral, interdepartmental approach is required to improve the mental health outcomes of women and girls during and beyond the Covid-19 period. I am fully committed to the development of mental health services and supports that are gender sensitive and which effectively address the needs of women across society. I thank the Minister for sharing time with me. Gabhaim buíochas.

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