Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was glad the Minister of State said that she was not opposing the motion. However, there were some things in her speech that were quite alarming if one sits down to think about them. She said that within 12 weeks somebody will have an appointment. This is 12 weeks of a family watching a family member in distress with worry and anxiety waiting to get an appointment. That that is what we have established in this country as the norm is a poor reflection on the health service that we had pre-Covid-19. Now we have the Covid-19 situation which has exacerbated all of those problems. I think the Minister of State would acknowledge that but the Government also needs to do so. The only way we can deal with this is to heavily invest to ensure that we provide for the very significant surge that is going to come and that is practically already there in many cases.

We have people who because of the lockdown and the restrictions feel very stressed and anxious in respect of all of this which will have an impact. There will also be an impact of the people who have contracted Covid-19 and we come across them all of the time. These are people who cannot sleep at night, who have lost energy, and who have great stress in their lives and will undoubtedly present with anxiousness in respect of all of that. This is a situation that is going to get worse in the coming days and weeks.

We all need to recognise the system that is there. In fairness, I have spoken to the Minister of State on many occasions about this, particularly in respect of CAMHS in counties Sligo and Leitrim and on other issues there, where we need to get the investment and the additional people in place. CAMHS in Sligo-Leitrim is at half-capacity because it is so understaffed. That has a very significant impact on families across the entire area. That is not just confined to Sligo-Leitrim but it is the case practically everywhere throughout the country. We need to put the effort in to deliver on this.

In the past number of days I have spoken to people from various agencies and organisations across my constituency. I spoke to North West STOP, which is a community organisation that emerged from the community to provide services for suicide prevention. It gets no funding from Government and yet it is there to stop the gap that Government leaves because of the underfunding of mental health services. We also see the same situation in respect of the Irish Advocacy Network and the Sligo Centre for Independent Living. All of these organisations are doing their best to try to assist people who are under stress. At the same time Government is not investing in the mental health services and this needs to happen now.

I implore the Minister of State not just to accept the motion but to invest in the provisions that it puts forward.

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