Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes I feel that there are parallel realities - one that reflects the Minister of State's remarks where one would think that Government has a handle on mental health services and the other that is reflected to me and other Deputies by our constituents who are at the coalface of Government's failures in this regard. Those people are part of the growing numbers who are on waiting lists that have almost doubled since this Government came to office.

There is the Minister of State's reality that talks about the prioritisation of early intervention and emergency care and then the reality of people in my constituency, Cavan-Monaghan, where there is not a single out-of-hours mental health service. I have dealt with families who have come to me whose children are in dire distress who are concerned and worried for their children's well-being and the only advice that is given to them is to attend an emergency department in a hospital.

There is the reality of the Minister of State where she talks about the increased resources and then there is the reality in my constituency where only 65% of the recommended staff are in place and where there are no CAMHS consultants available to teams for longer periods. There is the reality of the Minister of State who says that she is prioritising this issue and then there is the reality whereby Government frustrates a Sinn Féin proposal bringing forward an amendment to the Mental Health Act that would give statutory powers to the Mental Health Commission to oversee and assist the HSE in implementation of the recommendations of governance and clinical returns. What does Government do? The Government parties did not have the guts to vote against it. They simply delayed it by nine months.

There have been too many delays. There have been too many broken promises. Our children deserve better. They deserve the mental health services that will allow them to live full and meaningful lives.

See this speech in context