Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here and for being a mental health champion. It is clear since the Minister of State has gone into the Department that she has a personal interest in this. I know it is an issue of concern to everybody in this House and right around the country and that the Minister of State is interested in solving the problems. I know her legacy will be to resolve many of the challenges we have been talking about.

I particularly commend the Minister of State on some of the work she has been doing in the area of CAMHS. I know she recognises that it is not a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. service. She knows about the particular challenges we have had in the south east and she has been active in engaging with Raymond Shannon and others from Talk To Tom and with voluntary groups. If we can move to a position where we have support, particularly for children and adolescents, throughout the week, that would be a noble legacy on the Minister of State's part.

I want to talk about two groups and the mental health impact they have suffered. One sector of society that has been very much affected by the pandemic is that of artists, musicians and those in the creative industry. We know they have been affected economically but for an artist or a musician, what they do is not just a job but it is part of their identities. I know many of those in that sector are suffering because they are not able to perform.We need to look at specific measures. Artists and musicians have helped us through this period. We need to look at specific measures, as we are coming back as a community, to ensure that mental health supports are there for the creative sector.

The other group many have referred to is young people. When I was 18, 19 or 20, the last thing I wanted to do over a weekend was be stuck at home with my parents watching "The Late Late Show", particularly given that the starts of many of those shows are depressing. We have got to look at a new deal for young people coming out of this who have missed their 18th and 21st birthday parties. They have missed all of the opportunities that we had as young people.

I would share the concerns around the pressures that are being faced by those who are in first year in college and by those who are doing their leaving certificate. Whatever the resolution on the leaving certificate issue - I support giving leaving certificate students the choice - what is most important in this debate is those students' mental health and well-being and helping them to fulfil their dreams. I ask that when we come out of this, we look at a deal for young people to ensure they have the opportunity to have as full a life as possible having missed all of those important rites of passage.

It is fair to say that like nearly everybody else, I am fed up. I am tired of the restrictions. I want to go out and meet friends for coffee. At this stage, everyone is just waiting until we get the vaccines so that some level of normality can resume. It means that tempers are frayed. What we, including the Minister of State, have got to do is talk about positive mental health. We have got to start to talk about how folks might realise that everyone is going through a difficult period, be kind and be a little gentler. I wish the Minister of State a happy Valentine's Day. When we are in the series of love, love is an important thing. It is about stressing those important messages as well. We have to have hope. We have to have love. Those are the qualities that will bring us through this pandemic but that will bring us back together again as society.

I encourage the Minister of State to continue to be a champion. There are specific areas to address that we have talked about in looking at trying to provide mental health supports to people but we have also got to stress that there will be hope and that there is positivity.