Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome. I listened to his speech in my office. There are so many positive things coming from the Minister and Government in terms of the LGBTQI+ community. I wish to start by wishing everybody who takes part in the parade on Saturday the very best. I hope the weather stays fine. Unfortunately, I heard the dress code will be raincoat and wellies. We hope the weather forecasters are incorrect. I welcome the opportunity to speak to this debate because this is an important issue, not just for the LGBTQI+ community. It is important that all of society deals with the issues facing the community.

I would like to focus on two issues in particular. I commend our schools. We have been in many schools in our communities. It is incredible to see the significant amount of work that has been done by schools, teachers and, more importantly, strong LGBTQI+ students who have constantly pushed the agenda and envelope. I would like to commend them because it is a strong and brave thing to do in a school community.

I would like to talk about mental health services, in particular. There are wonderful services like Foroige, Jigsaw and BeLonG To, but there are also universal services in our communities like Genesis and Suicide Awareness Dublin 15. Unfortunately, many such services are under serious pressure in terms of being able to access them. There are currently 84 young people in Dublin West waiting on a list for a first appointment with Jigsaw. The average waiting time has increased from five to 11 weeks, which is deeply worrying. That wait is for general services, but we know the LGBTQI+ community is part of the waiting lists.

The waiting list for CAMHS is more than one year. As we know, every expert in child and adolescent mental health will tell us that early intervention and support is absolutely vital in order to avoid worsening mental health problems into the future. It is critically important that we consider all of those services, including targeted and universal services, in regard to mental health.

The other issue is community safety. We have had not only the horrific murders in Sligo but also, worryingly, an increase in attacks on our streets on members of the LGBT+ community. That should deeply worry and concern all of us, and we definitely need to challenge and to tackle it. We need to create awareness and a space for everyone to be who they are. We need to ensure that our towns, our cities and our streets are safe for people to express themselves without fear of being attacked and without being verbally abused, beaten or horrifically murdered.

There have been huge strides in recent years. We were on the marriage equality campaign trail on many a night in Dublin West. The sheer energy and joy of that campaign meant that it was not only probably one of the most important but also one of the best campaigns I have ever been on. Today I pulled out and looked at a couple of the badges we had for marriage equality. They went like hot cakes. You could not get one during that period. That just shows how much society has come along. As I said, however, there is still work that needs to be done.

I will therefore make an ask of people who are listening in to this debate. It is a very simple ask. If you have never attended the Pride parade, why not start this week? A very simple thing you can do to show your solidarity is to stand with people when they ask you to stand with them. I look forward, on Saturday, to standing with people, whether in me poncho, me rain jacket or me wellies or whether using sun cream. We will absolutely be there. It is a really important weekend for people to be able to stand with others. That is the ask I make of people today.

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