Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

I too wish Paschal Donohoe the very best of luck for the future. We managed to disagree agreeably most of the time. I want to recognise the contribution he has made to political life. I ask him to consider taking a lead from his former leader Leo Varadkar in terms of the work that he has done as an ambassador for the reunification of our island. There are many issues that are facing us that can only be tackled on an all-island basis. There are some wonderful books and academic papers that he can refer to in all of that.

The issue I want to deal with today is the lack of child psychology services in Mayo. In 2023, there was a two-year waiting list, which was totally unacceptable. Now, there is a three-year waiting list. That is not good enough for the for the children of Mayo. We are told that it is due to a range of factors. I want more psychologists in there. I want to end the ridiculous situation whereby if a child psychologist or anybody else goes on maternity leave, we wait until they are on maternity leave to then try to recruit. I am deeply concerned about the number of young people who are dying by suicide in Mayo and then even their families and the communities around them cannot get child psychology services.

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