Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise two issues today. We are all talking about the upcoming budget. I was in with Mental Health Reform earlier, as I am sure others were, on its pre-budget submission and on what it wants to see in the budget. I spoke to two mental health advocates, Blessing and Justyna, about their personal experiences of mental health while navigating the supports in the system in Ireland. It will be no surprise when I say it was not a great experience for either of these two people. It was not just a difficult experience for them due to the mental health supports but it was also difficult because of systemic issues, which potentially led them into a situation of mental health struggles, or the system not supporting them to live a life and be able to recover or go forward. They were faced with issues around losing their home. One was already homeless and the other lost their home while in hospital as the landlord threw them out and packed up their stuff. For one, there was a language barrier and they were misdiagnosed. They had to try to find someone to translate, to get a different diagnosis and then get back into the system. There were cultural misunderstandings of their experiences with people saying their parents came here to give them a good life and effectively saying to buck up and get on with it. There was, therefore, a real misunderstanding of what even led them to be in a mental health situation and how to support them to get out of it.

Mental Health Reform's asks are not enormous. They are actually very modest. When we are talking about millions of euro, it seems silly to talk about things being modest but when we have a surplus of billions, not investing in mental health is such a bad business proposal. It has long-term, knock-on consequences for not only the individual but also for society. If we have to speak in business language, then not investing in mental health services is a bad investment. Mental Health Reform has called for investment of €10 million for priority groups that tend to have a higher incidence of mental health difficulties, particularly LGBTI+ people, black and minority ethnic communities, the prison population, etc. It is asking for an investment of €2 million in child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. Some of our most vulnerable young people are falling between stools and ageing out of the mental health system because they are waiting so long. That €2 million would not be a large amount of money. What Mental Health Reform is asking for is small in light of the affirmative and positive impact that it could have on individuals who are struggling with their mental health, on those who care for and support them and on society. Many people are looked after by volunteers, be they their friends, families or communities, and that is not how it should be.

I was going to speak about another matter, but I will end there. I encourage people, particularly Senators on the Government side, to consider Mental Health Reform's submission and advocacy. In the grand scheme of things, it is a small amount of money for an enormous impact.