Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

Like many other speakers, including Senators Noone and McAleese, I would like to focus on youth mental health, something we as a society have not given nearly enough attention to. HSE services are still very underdeveloped, as the Minister of State will be aware, yet all the statistics show that unfortunately, the high rate of suicide among young people, particularly young men, means people are being let down.

From the point of view of long-term prevention, positive mental health amongst young people needs to be promoted to give people the coping skills they need. There needs to be awareness of how important it is to look after one's mental health, be aware of signs of distress in others, realise that everybody will come up against obstacles and that there is nothing to be ashamed of. People should be able to put their hands up and ask for help, whether one is a primary school child or a teenager. Often of course people do not need to ask for help unless, for example, they lose their job in their forties or fifties. Giving children a level of awareness is important.

As spokesperson on education, I would like to focus on the role of schools in that respect. We have had excellent debates in this House on social, personal and health education, SPHE. While some schools are doing an excellent job there is a lot of inconsistency and I would like the Minister of State to work with the Minister, Deputy Quinn, particularly at the current time. It is an area on which we need to place a much greater focus. Schools are under a lot of pressure. Young people want to get points to go to college but personal development is as important if not more so than acquiring academic skills and passing tests. We need to give people the personal skills they will need for the rest of their lives to be able to face whatever challenges they encounter, whether in their personal lives, workplace or anywhere else. There needs to be a lot more focus on promoting SPHE in our schools.

Senator Noone referred to the difficulties among certain groups of young people, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual young people. The statistics are scary. While one in four young people in general report that they have suffered from extreme forms of bullying, the figures amongst lesbian and gay teenagers are much higher. Those who have reported bullying have said they considered suicide or have already harmed themselves. Groups like BeLonG To and others are doing amazing work.

As a Senator rightly pointed out, not nearly enough is being done and as a society we need to be more aware of the issue. Schools have a particular role. One of the particularly alarming facts in the research BeLonG To did last year was that some of those who have made inappropriate comments which made young people uncomfortable are their peers and teachers. Such comments may not be made out of malice but people may not be aware of what is or is not appropriate. A quick remark might wound someone to the core and it is important that we make sure teachers have the skills to support young people, particularly those who are at special risk of bullying.

Focusing on schools, I would like to raise the issue of guidance counsellors. I am not sure if the Minister of State was consulted by the Minister, Deputy Quinn, before the decision in that regard was made but I hope it is something she has discussed with him since. Guidance counsellors are the one group of staff in our schools who have a special role in supporting young people. Often the job is seen as helping people to fill in the CAO form and know about their career options and what courses they should be picking, but as we are all aware, that is a minor part of the job in many respects. A guidance counsellor is the person a student can go to if there is a problem at home such as parents breaking up, or if something else is causing him or her distress. They are there to help students. I thought it was a particularly cruel cut in the budget, especially in a recession when so many families are going through difficulties. I hope the Minister of State will discuss this with the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, and highlight the importance of that role from the point of view of her own portfolio.

I am aware of excellent services provided by local groups such as the Sphere 17 youth service in Darndale. Such groups are now also facing cuts, which is a shame. I appreciate the budgetary constraints that exist, but survey after survey shows that rates of mental health problems are much higher in areas such as Priorswood, Darndale and Bonnybrook in Dublin 17. Much progress has been made over recent years with all the extra resources that were provided to establish services. Such informal supports, if they get kids out of a house where there are difficulties and allow them to play football or get involved in youth projects, are just as important as any of the formal services provided in schools or through the HSE. We need to be careful to ensure that by making short-term cuts we are not creating long-term problems for ourselves.

I will finish by raising one more issue which I have mentioned in the House previously and written to the Minister of State about. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate among mental health disorders, but this is an area that has been totally neglected, and services are poor. There is a centre in Sutton, as the Minister of State is aware, that provides an excellent private service but cannot get support from the HSE, which has been slow to avail of the service. This is an area in which a lot more work needs to be done.