Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad we have this opportunity to speak about mental health so soon in the term. It shows the Minister of State’s conviction and the importance she places on this. This is something I am very worried about. Like the Minister of State, I have regular constituency clinics and I know it is a huge issue. We knocked on doors from last summer until November. I do not know how many doors opened where, door after door, I spoke to parents, wives, husbands, sons and daughters who are struggling desperately with their mental health. They are struggling for various reasons. Some are struggling to access help and trying to get out of a situation. Some are stuck in a place where they may be self-medicating because they do not understand their condition or they might not be getting the help or therapies they need. I feel as though we are on the edge of a cliff hanging off. So many young people, older people and people of every age are struggling.

We heard in the House about young men and women who have taken their lives and died by suicide. It would be remiss of me not to mention one person in particular. I have been dealing with his family and a group that has grown up to support the family and fight for improved mental health services. I speak of Mark Kavanagh. He died by suicide last year. He was an incredibly popular, well-known young man who was synonymous with Dundalk Football Club and the town of Dundalk. That put shockwaves through Dundalk, whether it was people who knew him, people who had heard of him and people who could see themselves in him and saw their families in him.

If there is one thing we in this House, the Departments and the HSE must do in the next couple of years, it is that we must ensure that when those crisis trauma moments come along in a person’s life, there is a safe place for them to go to which is signposted and the person is taken care of, minded and not let go out to take their own life. That has happened so many times. Very often, I hear from people who have been patients in mental health services who feel they were not heard and there was a lack of kindness. They were seen as a number on a sheet. They were discharged and put in taxis to be sent home, even if it was not known whether there was someone at home for them. There was not even a care for them as they left the hospital where they were asked if they felt suicidal. They might not have but what about five or ten minutes later? Very often it happens very soon after.

If we are to change things, there are things we can improve on. One is signposting. Anyone looking up the HSE website for crisis mental health will find emergency services, of course, but then it is GP services. Where can a person go? The emergency department will not be a safe place for them. They cannot go there and sit in all that chaos. They need a place where they can go and be taken care of. I am a mammy of four young boys. My eldest is 12 and I am afraid. I see so many young boys and young men struggling for many different reasons. We can bring it back to early years where we have to build in that resilience. That is not something for the Department of Health but it is something for society, education and parents to build that resilience into our children and young people so they are fit for the craziness of this world. However, many of us need treatment and therapies and support and we must help people there and then when it happens.

I wish the Minister of State the very best of luck.

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