Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is aware that youth is a time when incidence of mental health disorder peaks, be it anxiety, depression, psychological distress or suicide, but it also a time at which access to coherent and user-friendly primary care services is largely absent. The key principle underpinning the implementation of youth mental health care is early intervention.

Organisations and individuals have highlighted to me how children and young people have been greatly impacted by delays in access and lack of resources in mental health services throughout Ireland. This is particularly the case at a time when waiting lists for mental health services in the country are very high. In County Mayo we have a two-year waiting list for primary care psychology and a 20-week waiting period for Mindspace Mayo, which is a primary care youth mental health service for 12 to 25-year-olds. This is simply unacceptable. We must be thinking about these and other services children and young people will need to access in a post-pandemic era.

Five years on from the publication of the report on the task force on youth mental health, I strongly advocate that the recommendations be implemented in full. This should include, most importantly, the recruitment of a national lead for youth mental health and a lead for youth mental health for each of the community healthcare organisations, and that includes CHO 2. The high degree of unmet mental health needs in our young people nationwide demands that youth mental health be elevated to a top priority within the healthcare portfolio. National reform and adequate investment in youth mental health will not only substantially improve the health and lives of young people but will also pay for itself and promote mental wealth in all of our society.

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