Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I commend the Senators who have tabled the motion before the House. This is a major issue in society. I look forward to hearing from Senator Gilroy, who has much more expertise in this area than I do. The thoughts I am expressing come from outside the system. As Dr. Eoin O'Sullivan of Trinity College has pointed out, this State inherited an amazing institutional structure for mental illness in massive concentrations in places like Grangegorman, the Lee Fields in Cork, Portrane, Portlaoise, Mullingar, Ballinasloe and Castlebar. Dr. O'Sullivan has suggested that the British Government, almost as an experiment, decided to see whether the problems of society could be solved by locking up as many people as possible. People used mental illness as a way of getting rid of rivals to inherit farms or people to whom they did not want their families to be related. We committed many people, out of all proportion to the size of our population.

I suggest that Irish society has not really come to terms with this cruel episode. We blame churches for the way children were institutionalised, but many adults were institutionalised without any assistance from churches or anybody else who could be blamed. Researchers have found that people were institutionalised in Ireland to a degree that is unparalleled anywhere. That is the system the Minister of State is belatedly seeking to dismantle. I think she has our support in her endeavours. Mental illness became a major industry in certain towns. The manner in which people committed their relatives in such numbers to institutions from which they would never emerge shows us the dysfunctionality of Irish society at that time. Books have been written by people who were committed in Mullingar even though they were perfectly able to function. They could not get out because the certification of the doctors who put them in there needed to be undone. We cannot escape from this shameful episode in Irish history. We have tried to brush it under many carpets. I commend the Minister of State on her attempts to dismantle the institutional structure to which I refer.

I would like to comment on some of the things we see now. I wonder whether it is time to ban electroconvulsive therapy altogether. I believe the scientific basis for it is most unsound. Anyone who has seen movies like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", or who knows someone who has had this treatment, will wonder what we are thinking when we put big charges of electricity through people's heads. I hope it is on the way out. The Minister of State will certainly have my support if her intention is to ban it. The science is unknown. Drug therapy is another way of anaesthetising people into a zombie-like state and subduing them so they do not ask awkward questions, shout or generally enjoy themselves. The experts tell me that we base too little of our approach on talking to patients and too much of our approach on drugging them into some kind of submission. I support everything that has been said about the need for prevention and detention.

I wish to speak about the underlying causes of mental illness. I was struck by the pessimistic reference in the motion to "global research in relation to the predicted rise in dementia and Irish figures showing a predicted rise to 140,000 sufferers in the next thirty years". I think we should take up the challenge of ensuring that figure never gets anywhere near 140,000. Economics is known as the dismal science, but the utterances of economists are positively cheerful by comparison with the unending stream of gloom that comes into this society from the media on a daily basis. People should reflect on how much gloom they need. Economists draw attention to things so that we will solve them - that is our optimism. I wonder whether the unending gloom in the media is causing the increase in mental health problems. Do we help families enough? I refer to dealings with children and between spouses. Do we know how to relate to old people? I think it would be extremely pessimistic to write off 140,000 people without taking positive health measures aimed at ensuring they do not end up in that kind of situation.

I know the Minister of State is a reforming person who wants to change things. The system of incarceration, drugs and electric treatment has long ceased to commend itself to anyone in this House. The Minister of State's attempts to replace it with something more humane, more effective and of more spiritual value to society deserve our support. When institutions are in place in Ireland, it is a hell of a difficult job to try to dismantle them and move onto something new. I hope the Minister of State will have some success in this case. I commend the Senators who tabled this motion. I have nothing further to add because I am anticipating what Senator Gilroy will say. He has experience in his life of the topics discussed in this motion. As the Minister of State said, one of the great things about the Seanad is that its Members come from so many different backgrounds. Every time I come to this House, I learn something new. I have learned something in this debate. The Minister of State is always very welcome. I look forward to hearing the views of someone like Senator Gilroy who has actually been there.