Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Upper House and congratulate her on her appointment as the new Minister for mental health and older people. I believe she will take the necessary measures to address the ever-growing and pressing issues surrounding mental health.

I am also encouraged to see that the Cabinet approved the restoration of the mental health funding for 2016. Commitment was clearly shown by the previous Government and continues now with this Government in the programme for Government. A Vision for Change provides for the ring-fencing of €35 million from within the overall health budget to develop community mental health services and to ensure early access to more appropriate services for both adults and children.

A key focus has been the additional posts to strengthen community mental health teams for both adults and children. They have been used to enhance specialist community mental health and forensic services and increasing access to counselling and psychotherapy under the suicide prevention incentives. Appropriately, 1,550 new posts have been approved since 2012 up to the end of 2016, of which 1,153 have been recruited or were in the recruitment process by the end of last year. Those posts facilitate the policy of moving away from traditional institutional based care to a patient-centred, flexible and community based mental health service where hospital admissions are greatly reduced while providing inpatient care when appropriate.

While all of those steps are working towards a common goal in looking after the needs of those suffering with mental health difficulties, there is a very long way to go. I will outline some key areas I believe need urgent scrutiny, together with a change in legislation, to help those most vulnerable in our society.

Ireland has the fourth highest rate of youth suicide in Europe. Suicide is everybody's problem, and one in four of us will at some stage throughout our lives suffer with mental health issues, regardless of age. Those at local general practitioner level and staff working in accident and emergency departments are not sufficiently trained to recognise or deal with patients who present with a mental health issue. What training is provided in this specified area? Is that training updated, and how often is it updated? Accident and emergency departments are not equipped to deal with a person in crisis. Implementation of access to 24 hour, seven days a week trained crisis support is essential.

I want to give another example of that. A young man with mental health issues had been in a Dublin hospital for a medical procedure but was discharged at lunch time that same day. That evening, he was seen by his general practitioner for a check-up and despite the fact that he was attending Pieta House, the medical professionals did not deem him to be suicidal. That young man took his own life before the day was out.

A major factor that works against those suffering with mental health issues is patient confidentiality in terms of anyone over the age of 18. Those who have a member of their family suffering with a mental health condition understand how frustrating it is for them to have their hands tied and unable to intervene to help their loved ones due to this confidentiality provision. In reality, we have a system whereby the family or a loved one of someone suffering with a mental health illness is not permitted to access the most basic level of information to support their loved ones. That does not make sense at any level. Families must be involved in the care of someone suffering with a mental health illness, and I ask the Minister to make that a priority and bring forward legislation to ensure the best possible care for all.In the case to which I referred, the mother involved said, "As a mom looking after our son, I should have access to as much information as possible in order to keep him safe." In my constituency I had a person with mental health issues, and her neighbours and I watched her die, maggots all over her body, her house filthy. The HSE told us it could not do anything, bar she signing herself in. We had to look at this, knowing what was going on behind those closed doors.

Access to counselling also needs to be a priority. Private services are not affordable for the majority. There are those who desperately need this assistance and shorter waiting times. Someone who is in crisis may not always have time on his or her side. People have been referred by the public sector to a private service as the public sector did not have specialists available. This cost €140 per session. This is not suitable for anybody. Sometimes there is no alternative except to endure endless waiting lists and hope and pray that loved ones are able to hold on.

I know the Minister of State's portfolio is close to her heart, and it has touched all of ours as well. I am excited to know which changes she will bring about and I wish her every success in her new ministerial role. I will finish with a sobering thought written by Shane Gillen:

I am a 28 year old male in Ireland. Some day I will die, and the chances of me dying by suicide are higher than the chances of me dying of liver disease, leukaemia, stomach, pancreas, oesophagus, liver or colon cancer, kidney disease, lymphomas or from a serious injury or car crash. Today's Ireland sees suicide ranked among the top ten killers in the land.