Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for choosing this very serious issue. I want to read a statement from Olwen Rowe from Wexford, the sister of Kenneth Rowe, who took his own life. Kenneth was a good friend to two of my sons. The statement reads:

Families and friends live many nightmares when a loved one dies by suicide. When there is no warning, the shock and the pain are immense, beyond words.

But sometimes, there are warning signs and there's the unthinkable nightmare of seeing your loved one decline, seeing their distress, and repeatedly trying to access professional support for them, but hitting wall after wall. You watch your loved one fighting for their life without the professional help they desperately need. You try to believe the experts [who] say that you are over-reacting but you are terrified you’ll get the call, or the Gardaí will come to your door, and then that day comes, and your world falls apart.

Kenneth was 32. He was independent, private and self-reliant but when he hit a crisis, he knew he needed help. With the support of Kenneth’s GP and others, Kenneth tried to get help. My parents spent countless days and nights sitting with Kenneth as he battled his anguish, wrapping him in the light of their love. They worked tirelessly to get him the care he needed.

It was like watching a train hurtle towards an abyss and begging for help from the experts only to be told we were exaggerating, we were overprotective, he’d be fine, it was Christmas and there were no appointments, he should get back to work, work stress was normal, he should drink less coffee and get more exercise, he should take the increasing number, and doses of medication he was being prescribed, all without any ongoing support.

Kenneth was failed by both public and private mental health services in this country. It is difficult now to meaningfully engage with those who were asked to provide care for Kenneth, to see why these health systems failed him: whether it was individual failure, shortage in resources, lack of expertise, lack of compassion, lack of understanding.

We heard University Hospital Waterford was under pressure for beds, that patients were being admitted and kept in chairs. Can you imagine how awful it is, hoping a family member would be admitted for psychiatric care and being terrified of whether or not that service would be fit for purpose? Whether the hell that he was living through, as he tried to get on with his daily life was better than the hell of being admitted to an overstretched mental health facility?

Kenneth was sent home from Waterford Hospital 3 times in 5 days. Imagine our despair that in spite of an urgent referral from Waterford to Summerhill Community Mental Health Services, Kenneth’s appointment was for six weeks later. The wait was impossible. We were told Kenneth couldn’t access mental health services in another public hospital. As Kenneth’s crisis deepened we attempted to access private mental health services at St. Patrick’s in Dublin. This was another disaster, another failure. There was nowhere else to turn.

Kenneth fought so hard to stay alive for everyone and everything he loved. But he didn’t make it. He ended his life 19 days before his appointment at Summerhill.

The Taoiseach gave the opening speech at the Pieta House “Darkness Into Light” event. Yet his government has failed to give adequate funding to mental health services. Suicide rates in Wexford are a lot higher than the national average; yet no emergency mental health services exist in Wexford. Charities like Pieta House and the Samaritans do good work; but their supports cannot replace the complex psychological and psychiatric care that should be provided by HSE mental health services.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will have a further two minutes in his supplementary.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I will just finish. It continues:

In the middle of our grieving and the unspeakable pain, it is hard not to feel anger and rage about a health system that is inadequate, underfunded and criminally absent in some parts of this country. It feels like no one, who can actually make a difference, cares.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I call the Minister of State. Deputy Wallace will have another minute.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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It continues:

Kenneth gave so generously of his time and resources that he always gave the impression of having plenty, even when he was struggling to make ends meet. He has left little by way of material goods, but his legacy is immense - the many acts of kindness he wove into the fabric of his life, his unremitting intolerance for bullshit-----

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We are moving on to the next issue. The Deputy cannot take advantage.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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It continues:

his courage to stand up for the people he loved, for people who needed support during difficult times, his honourable commitment to doing his work well.

It concludes:

Would that we had a future with him. He didn’t want to die.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Wallace must have some consideration. He will get no second intervention.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Wallace for raising this very important issue. It was a very powerful and sad letter to hear, about Kenneth Rowe's story. He was a young man, aged 32. I accepted that and offer my deepest sympathy to the family. We have to deal with the issue. I do not doubt the Deputy's sincerity and integrity about the issues he raised.

I can assure him that tackling suicide is a priority for the Government. Under the care of my Department, a cross sectoral steering group was established to assist the National Office for Suicide Prevention, NOSP, in implementing Connecting for Life - Ireland’s national strategy to reduce suicide. This is a six year strategy running from 2015 to 2020. The National Office for Suicide Prevention is part of the HSE and was specifically established to co-ordinate suicide prevention efforts around the country and to implement Connecting for Life. To support NOSP, funding was increased from €3.7 million in 2010 to the current level of €12 million. An additional €275 million was provided in 2015 for additional resource officers for suicide prevention and for priority actions under Connecting for Life.

Wexford’s local Connecting for Life plan was launched in January 2016 and is aligned to the national strategy. As suicide affects each person in the community, this local plan is a collaboration by individuals and statutory and non-statutory bodies in the communities throughout Wexford. It has built on work already begun in Wexford since the initial countrywide plan was launched in 2004. The work of NOSP has helped to reduce the number of suicides in Ireland from 495 in 2010 to 392 in 2017. It must be noted that the 2017 figures are provisional and by their nature are subject to change and so should be interpreted with caution at this time.

The NOSP efforts in suicide prevention include training programmes such as safeTALK and ASIST. In addition, the Little Things campaign focuses on measures we can all do to protect our own mental health and to support the people we care about. Children and adolescents who present with suicidal ideation in Wexford, depending on their presentation, may be referred to a number of services, including a school counsellor; teen counselling services in the Ferns Diocesan Youth Service, FYDS; the HSE child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, in Wexford; the HSE primary care community psychology services and the HSE self-harm intervention programme, SHIP. In addition, the report of the national task force on youth mental health contains a number of recommendations on youth mental health that have been incorporated into the service plans of lead agencies and priorities for 2018 and 2019. Additionally, the Pathfinder project, which will be the first of its kind, will bring together officials from a number of relevant Departments to form a unit focused on youth mental health. This work will include the implementation of the recommendations of the national task force on youth mental health.

I accept the Deputy's point that nothing will bring back Kenneth Rowe, the lovely young man about whom he spoke, or take away the sadness in his sister's heart. We must develop mental health services that will help young people, in particular young men like Kenneth.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I do not wish to personalise this or to blame any one Minister for the problem. I had a pint with Kenneth Rowe a few weeks before he died. He is gone and he need not be. I note the services mentioned by the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath. The people of Wexford are of the view that there are not adequate services available to them. Young people are dying because the help they need is not available to them. In the last month, a 13 year old boy and a 15 year old girl committed suicide in Wexford. Wexford has the highest rate of suicide in the country. There is a serious problem there. Kenneth's sister believes that the Government has failed to adequately fund mental health services in Wexford. I am sorry to have to say it, but that is the truth. This Government and its predecessor failed to hit the mark in terms of mental health service provision.

People in Wexford are constantly ringing and texting me asking why nothing is changing, what the Government is doing to address this issue and if the Government cares. As I said, I do not blame any one individual for the lack of service provision but I believe that this Government and its predecessor failed the people of Wexford in terms of that provision. Neither Government served them well. That is the truth. Something has to give. I am pleading with the Minister of State to take action.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I agree we need to take action in regard to this particular issue. The Deputy's reference to a 13 year old and a 15 year old having recently committed suicide makes the other situation he highlighted even worse. The Minister of State, Deputy Daly, in conjunction with the Department of Health and the HSE, will continue to enhance the policies and services to reduce the incidence of suicide in Ireland.

I have looked at the statistics for Wexford. The Deputy is right in what he said. According to the three year moving average rate of suicide per 100,000 population by county of residents deceased between 2004 to 2017, the national average was 8.8%. In Wexford, its is 11.1%. I accept what the Deputy says. I do not propose to make false promises but I will bring the Deputy's concerns to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, and ask that consideration be given to Wexford in the context of any services development into the future. We must take action. Suicide is a serious problem. We cannot afford to lose young people like Kenneth Roe. As I said, I will bring the Deputy's concerns to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, in the hope that he will take action in the next few months.