Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Galway, like every other county in Ireland, has been deeply affected by the mental health crisis in our young people. This is probably the biggest issue that young people raise with me personally, which is a good thing in the sense that young people are being very vocal in relation to mental health services, or the lack thereof, and are looking to engage with us in that debate.

After being elected to the Dáil I took a particular interest in and focus on the crisis in the mental health services in Galway, as the Minister of State is aware. I conducted a survey of young people and people across Galway who have used, and indeed not used, the mental health services in Galway. I have met and spoken to a number of mental health service providers in Galway. One thing that came to the fore among the people who engaged directly with myself, through the survey or in other ways, was the availability of mental health services outside of normal business hours. There was a particular focus on this, and a lot of people felt that they had no option other than to attend at an accident and emergency department, when they felt that perhaps the accident and emergency department was not the appropriate place for them to go at that time.

There were a variety of different responses from the people who spoke to me. One person said that in multiple instances they were turned away from the accident and emergency department after the GP had recommended them to go there. Another person reported that the accident and emergency department advised them to wait until the mental health clinic opened, but they left and felt vulnerable without support. Others said that they went to the accident and emergency department and that they had a great experience. The wide array of experiences is not surprising, but the reality is that people felt they had no other option at that point.

Figures recently released by my party colleague Deputy Ward indicate that there were not sufficient levels of staff such as liaison psychiatrists in our emergency departments. This adds more to those concerns and the fact that people do not have any other option, the concern being that a relevantly qualified person may not be available to assist the person who walks through the door.

Another issue that concerns me is the fact that young people in Galway had the highest waiting times in the State for an appointment with Jigsaw, with some people waiting up to 20 weeks. The Minister of State will be aware that as an adult 20 weeks is a very long time - it is five months - but for children that feels a lot longer. It can take a significant amount of time for a person to come forward to say that they need help, but to have to wait that length of time really adds to it. This really needs to be tackled.

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