Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree 100% with what the Deputy said. We always have to watch out for the vulnerabilities in others and be alert and aware. As he said earlier, we should be open in talking about mental health and about suicide but also in letting people know, which I consistently say to young people, that they should be kinder to each other. In life, people should be kinder to each other than is often the case and the Deputy referenced that in his earlier remarks. It is very important in a group or crowded setting to be very conscious that not everybody may be happy at a given, particular point in time or in a good position. We then have to provide supports in the access to GPs, community health teams, or a mental health professional within the community, which the Deputy has referred to.

My view, having been in the Department of Health quite some time ago, is we need to continue to strengthen the community health teams across the length and breadth of the country. In speaking to some senior psychiatrists and to people who have been involved in mental health service provision for years, they felt that we were overly institutionalised as a country, overly focused on the acute phase of mental illness and less so on the community side. We need to build up strong community mental health teams.

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