Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Ward and Sinn Féin on this motion on mental health. I am sure everyone agrees that we are living in unprecedented times, which call for unprecedented measures, especially around our mental and physical well-being. The past 14 months has shown us that we are all vulnerable and we can be touched by any mental health issue. It has shown the desperate situations in which people have found themselves in experiencing isolation, fear, loneliness and despair, but there is also hope which is the main thing we want the debate. We have seen amazing human solidarity not only in Ireland but across the world, particularly with our front-line workers. We have seen hope, unity and togetherness that we have not seen for generations as people pulled together. When people pull together and there is a sense of togetherness, that is great for everyone's mental and physical health. That is good but we need to be better.

A Vision for Change was quite visionary in 2006. It was a critique of mental health services in Ireland. What we are discussing here is resources. That strategy said we needed to spend 12% of our overall health budget on mental health services. We spend less than that now. Mental Health Reform says there are fewer staff working in mental health services now than in 2008 even though a lot of money has gone into mental and physical health. When there are fewer staff, there are fewer resources. Intervention is key when someone presents themselves with difficulties. It is very important that the Government addresses that.

Others have spoken about CAMHS. In certain CHOs - my constituency is in CHO 7 - some children have to wait up to a year and a half before they can avail of any sort of intervention service.

It is absolutely unforgivable in that children need the intervention not in 18 months or even 12 weeks but in 12 days. Addressing this need is the key to changing fundamentally our CAMH services and so forth.

The pandemic has shown there have been major inadequacies regarding public health services and a schism. Throughout numerous decades, the underfunding of our health service, particularly the mental health service, has been hugely detrimental for those who wanted to access services. Some of us may need to access the services, and when we need them, they are not there for us.

Will the Minister of State answer a question on talk therapy? It is very good. There is overprescription of medication, especially antidepressants, for mental health issues in this country. Nobody has mentioned social prescribing. It is very beneficial and we should do more of it rather than going down the line of overmedicating people. Social prescribing is going to be very beneficial.

On the overall picture, I really believe, for numerous reasons, there is a mental health crisis. That society is so driven by competition is absolutely detrimental to people. That is a political analysis but we live in a capitalist world that is driven by competition, individualism and profit. If you cannot get the resources, capitalism is really bad for your health.

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