Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is very welcome to see the issue of mental health up for discussion again in this House. However, one thing I have noticed over the years of being in here is that there has been a lot of talk about mental health and very little action. Plenty of people are sick and tired of the talk. They want the Government to provide the services that they need and that should be in place for them, particularly in a wealthy State like ours. They do not want to be stuck on waiting lists for months and months while their mental health deteriorates.

In the most recent European Commission report on mental health, 44% of people surveyed in Ireland said either they or their family members had encountered issues when it came to accessing mental health services here.

That was the highest in the EU. The most common issue was being stuck on long waiting lists. I am sure we are going to hear a lot talk again about the progress that has been made on the provision of mental health services, yet compared with five years ago we still have fewer CAMHS inpatient beds. We do not have any extra. What we have more of is children waiting for their first appointment with CAMHS, children waiting over a year and children waiting on psychology waiting lists. I think the Minister will agree the list is way too long.

Next week is Irish Eating Disorders Awareness Week and I was pretty shocked to hear we only have three adult eating disorder beds in this State. Between 2018 and 2023 there were supposed to be 20 new beds opened. This never happened so I ask the Minister of State where the extra beds are. As she knows, I do not just come in here to criticise. My party has solutions and we also have proposals. Our team published a fully-costed five-year mental health action plan. All of us in the House are interested in ensuring people get their treatment in a timely fashion and we all agree people should be able to reach their best potential. We want to work with the Minister of State and the Government to make a real difference in this area. I am hopeful and I really hope the Government and others will stop the talking and get down to action to deliver for people who are really in need.

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