Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am very glad to be a part of this discussion. I welcome the Minister of State to the House again. We chatted at a different session earlier today.

We are living through the most strange and difficult times. We are living with restrictions for fear of our health and that of our loved ones, with the sense that no matter how hard we try to do what is asked of us, the goalposts keep moving. It can be a daily struggle for us all. The past few weeks has been particularly tough for many of us, and I am not afraid to say I have struggled over that time and found it exceptionally difficult.

To anyone listening to this debate, reading about it tomorrow or perhaps watching online, I point out they are certainly not alone in feeling strain on their mental health. There is no shame in feeling tired and low during this time. We have been faced with an incredibly difficult task of isolating from loved ones and finding an inner reserve of patience and strength that can be difficult to find. There has never been a time when we have all been told we are in this together and that we are all in the same boat while feeling so isolated and on our own. There is no weakness or shame in reaching out for help, whether to a friend, a family member, a GP, a counsellor, a therapist or a support group such as the Samaritans. If someone needs to make that call, he or she should make it now, or if someone thinks that someone else needs to receive a call, he or she should make it now. It is very easy to stand in the Chamber and tell people to talk to someone but the resources and the supports are just not there.

I refer to Senator Black and the Joint Sub-Committee on Mental Health, which she set up and chaired. Before Christmas, we heard weekly from people working in primary care settings and all sorts of places who outlined the stark reality of the current circumstances and what is potentially coming down the line in terms of a mental health crisis post Covid. As I have stated previously in the House, I recommend everyone watch the footage from those meetings because being a member of the committee was the most illuminating and possibly the most useful experience that I have had since becoming a Senator.

When we speak about mental health in the context of Covid, I am acutely aware that the first perspective most of us speak from concerns the mental health crisis that many are living through and the negative impact that Covid has had on everyone's mental health, which is fair and understandable. I believe, however, and I hope others will agree, that Covid and the social restrictions it has resulted in has also given us an opportunity to examine how we were living our lives beforehand, and more specifically that there is a want for a greater balance between our working and family lives. For many people, the absence of a daily commute and the costs associated with - the literal, physical and mental costs - has been an improvement.

During the week, I read the findings of the Macra na Feirme young farmer and rural youth survey, which I highly recommend doing because it includes very honest and insightful contributions highlighting a variety of experiences of young people living in rural communities. As someone from a farming background, I had to leave that community to achieve what I wanted for my education and career. I found myself connecting with many of the stories that Macra shared and I thank it for conducting the survey. Young people have been tremendously affected by this pandemic. It is fair to say those living in the more sparsely populated parts of rural Ireland are likely to be feeling very keenly the isolation in which we have been living for almost 12 months. In an average year, young people living in rural Ireland, with little in the way of local public transport and an unreliable Internet connection, could find themselves feeling isolated, and the survey showed that has been exacerbated over the past months.

There were some interesting and even positive findings in the survey results. A total of 53% of all the rural young people surveyed stated they would like to work from home or from a remote working hub in the future, 59% identified spending more time with their families as a positive of recent months, while 37% of those surveyed were happy with their current work-life balance. They are quite significant numbers. Notwithstanding the mental health issues we have talked about, lessons have been learned in recent months, particularly for young people in rural areas.When we go back to normal, whatever that is, we will want to reflect on what learnings we can take from this that will be positive towards people’s well-being, growth and mental health. As I said, as we leave this pandemic and open our economy and our lives, we need to consider there are some elements of how we have been forced to live our lives in the past year that people will want to incorporate into their lives because they have been of benefit to them. Working from home allows workers to cut out commuting. It allows some people to fulfil better care obligations. For some, it simply means more time with their family and in their own locality. Workers who want to continue working from home post pandemic, even part-time, should be facilitated. As the survey showed, all this ties into mental health and well-being and how we will look at life post pandemic. I feel like my time is going on forever. The clock is ticking away.