Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This week I received an email from a 16-year-old girl from County Tipperary concerning what she termed the mental health crisis in Ireland. Like so many others of her age, she has lost several friends to suicide. She related to me that when she was feeling that way as well, she presented to the hospital only to be sent home four hours later. She is still affected, and has since appealed to me to make the case on her behalf concerning the need for more funding to be allocated for mental health services and for more training for service providers.

What kind of country are we living in when a 16-year-old who should be enjoying her youth has instead to write to me to make this case for her and many other young people who feel abandoned? We spoke previously about setting up the Jigsaw project in Thurles, which ran over half a year late. I am waiting to hear if we will get physical hubs in other parts of the county. When I inquired about waiting times for the services as they stood on 31 October 2021, I was told that they were running at seven weeks. That is far too long for young people to have to wait.

Tipperary has seen the closure of St. Michael's psychiatric unit. People in urgent need now must present at an accident and emergency department. Centres that facilitate counselling services are living hand-to-mouth because of a lack of sustained funding. There must be an independent review of CAMHS after the surfacing of issues with the services in south Kerry. Children being overly prescribed medication is a major concern, as is the lack of a clinical lead and consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist for CAMHS in the south Kerry area. The services the young and the old can get are often determined by their postcode instead of by their needs.

Let us take the example of CAMHS in the CHO 3 health area, which includes north Tipperary. Some 355 young people were waiting near the end of the year. Of that total, 76 had been waiting for more than a year. In CHO 5, of which south Tipperary is a part, 221 young people were waiting, and 12 of them had been waiting for more than a year. Clearly the speed with which people are seen in Tipperary depends on where they live. The same problem exists with child primary care psychology waiting lists. This game of chance being played with the mental health of our children is the result of a chaotic strategy on the part of the Government, which cut additional funding by 50% recently. Serious change is needed for young people.

Our young people are saying this based on their experiences. I conclude with a passage from the email sent to me by the young girl I referred to earlier:

We need more funding for the mental health system. Please, it needs a change. I am looking towards you for help. I would love to chat to someone about what ideas I have to help because I think I can make a change and I’m willing to fight to make a difference. Please hear me and all of the other people in this country who NEED you to listen.

I urge the Minister of State to start listening to the words of this young girl and the other youngsters in this country who have taken the time to express their feelings.

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