Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the Minister of State. More than 100,000 Irish people took part in the Darkness into Light walk to raise funds and, much more importantly, to raise awareness of suicide in this country and internationally last Friday night into Saturday morning. This was also the case in County Clare, where six different walks took place. In Ennis, more than 2,000 people took part while in excess of 1,000 people took part in Kilrush in west Clare. More than 600 people took part in the walk in Miltown Malbay, where it was held for the first time this year. There were also walks in Shannon and Killaloe.

Suicide has affected every parish, every region and every county in this country and many people are doing their utmost to deal with it. There are many organisations involved in mental health in this country, all of which bring their own unique perspective, experience, local knowledge base, etc., to the table. All play a pivotal role in raising awareness, preventing suicide and supporting people who have difficulties with mental health. The West Clare Mental Health Association is one of those organisations, which has done enormous work over the last few years in supporting people in west Clare with mental health issues. It provides on-the-ground support, intervention support, peer support and financial support and engages in fund-raising - the whole realm of support that, as a society and as a State, we have failed to provide. The Minister of State has acknowledged in the past that we have an awful long way to go. Fortunately, we have organisations, such as the West Clare Mental Health Association, which go some way to providing the necessary supports and filling a very big void in terms of what we should be doing as a State but are not doing. Organisations like the West Clare Mental Health Association fill that void with honour and do a very good job.

There is a facility in Kilrush which is vacant at the moment. As part of its development programme, the organisation is looking to use this vacant facility as a base or a hub to deal with the various services it provides. The facility is vacant and is in the ownership of the HSE.A proposal on the use of this premises by the West Clare Mental Health Association has been submitted to the Health Service Executive. This would be a natural step forward that would reflect the spirit of partnership that exists between the HSE, the State and mental health associations nationwide. The West Clare Mental Health Association would maintain the facility, which is currently vacant and would provide the group with a much-needed base to allow it to continue to develop the vital work it is doing on behalf of the community.