Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

I raise the issue of serious problems in our mental health services, particularly in acute mental health services. I will raise the individual case of a young man in Sligo who was murdered. His name was Jimmy Loughlin. The person who committed the murder was somebody in the care of the mental health services. When incidents like this happen the HSE is meant to carry out what is known as a serious incident report. It was not carried out in this case. It has also not been carried out in other cases, as another family has contacted me in similar circumstances. I raised this issue previously with the Taoiseach, who said the Mental Health Commission would have to investigate it. The family wrote to the Mental Health Commission, which has come back and said it does not investigate these situations. The family feels they are being stonewalled in respect of this situation. They want this issue resolved. After the recess, will the Government meet these families and sit down and discuss this issue with them? Will it ensure that in all these circumstances serious incident reports are carried out? This will allow people to understand where the failings occurred. In these cases people were murdered by somebody with mental health problems who attacked them. In most cases the people themselves end up dying by suicide. It is a tragedy for these families. It is the impact of a failed mental health service that we need to get right. Will the Tánaiste please ensure he meets these families and that serious incident reports are carried out in all of these cases?

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