Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister of State the best in her new role. I hope she and the Government will treat mental health as a priority. I think all of us in this Chamber are agreed that a lot of work needs to be done. A person’s mental health is as important as their physical health. If a person is disabled in one aspect of their health, then it will have an impact on the other aspects unless the condition can be treated quickly. We all know that.

I am sure all Deputies will agree that, too often, there are significant delays in the treatment of mental health. This has been particularly true in recent years for young people who engage with the child and adolescent mental health services. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial in assisting these children in managing their illnesses and recovery. Childhood is fleeting, and where help is needed, it should be offered as soon as possible. Children deserve better than to be waiting for treatment and to be subject to a postcode lottery, which happens quite often.

Under the previous Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael Government, waiting times for an appointment with CAMHS grew longer. Since 2020, the number of young people waiting more than a year increased by 145%, from 223 to 546. Behind these statistics are young people who need support. It will be a young person whose life is impacted because they are not receiving the support they need. Behind these statistics are parents desperate to do the best for their child. I welcome the reinstatement of the Mental Health Bill 2024, which the programme for Government notes is a priority. The programme for Government states that its passage “is essential to modernise our mental health services”. My party agrees that the passing of this legislation is very important. We also advocated for its implementation throughout the previous Dáil, but two and a half years later, we continue to talk about a Bill that has not passed. The Minister of State will be judged on her progress of this. We will hold her to account but we will also help her when we can.

The treatment of mental health in the State is challenging. Too many people do not get treated and too many face the challenge alone. In Limerick, we are fortunate in some of the fantastic volunteer support groups that operate in centres such as the Haven Hub where you can walk in and talk to somebody, our courageous suicide prevention teams who patrol the banks of the River Shannon to assist anybody who is in need, or the Bedford Row project. Without their efforts, many families in Limerick would be in a much more difficult position. They have provided coping skills to children and their parents. They are some of the unsung heroes of children’s mental health. However, these heroes can only do so much without State support, support that, without the enactment of the Mental Health Bill, remains lacking.

In the past couple of months, Limerick has seen the launch of the community access support team which is comprised of gardaí, medical professionals and paramedics who respond to out-of-hours mental health issues. I was delighted to attend the launch last year, which the Minister of State attended and I met her there. Again, that was a delayed launch. When I first raised this in the Chamber, I was advised it would be launched in the last quarter of 2022, but it was launched in 2024. While we wait for the Government to step up to the mark on mental health, waiting lists are growing. For instance, in my area covering Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary, at the start of the term of the previous Government, 196 people were waiting to be seen by CAMHS. The figures are indicative of the snail-like approach to mental health and this needs to change. While children await appointments, their childhood is being damaged.

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