Eileen Flynn (Independent)

I want to bring the Minister of State's attention to the mental health inequalities this Bill must address but currently ignores. This legislation will shape mental health services for generations, but it fails to confront the discrimination that drives mental health crises in marginalised communities. The Traveller community faces a mental health emergency that shames our nation. Our suicide rate is 6.6 times higher than that for people in the general population. They are our children, our siblings, our future, destroyed by systemic racism and exclusion.

This Bill fails to mandate culturally appropriate services for the most vulnerable groups within society. Mental health cannot be separated from social justice, discrimination, poverty and exclusion, which drive mental health distress. When Traveller children are followed by security guards while shopping, when Traveller families are refused services in restaurants and when young people cannot find employment because of their surname or address, this creates trauma that mainstream mental health services do not understand or address. Only 6% of the mental health budget supports services, against a 10% target. As of April 2025, 4,554 children were waiting for first-time CAMHS appointments, a 200% increase since 2020. Over 760 children have been waiting more than a year for mental health care. Working-class families endure months of waiting, while wealthy families access private care immediately. Two-tier systems continue inequalities that this Bill must challenge.

This is the Minister of State's second term as Minister with responsibility for mental health and older people. Nothing has changed since I first stepped foot inside this House five and a half years ago. It is absolute torture for the Traveller community when we have a mental health crisis and an addiction crisis. I personally do not believe our mental health services are fit for purpose. We do not have enough services within the country. We do not have enough nurses or doctors in mental health. Why would people stay working in mental health if they earn crap money and they are not getting the financial support to be able to deliver good mental health services? Last year, I took part in a documentary called "Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost" about a young Traveller who at 13 years of age passed away by suicide. I see young Traveller men every single day of the week who are addicted to drugs, barely functioning because of drug and mental health crises.

In this Bill, we fail to take care of our most vulnerable. The Bill does not name prison services or look after people who are in prison around mental health issues. We know that a good percentage of people in prison have mental health issues. I know that for a fact. Being on the Traveller committee, we visited a lot of the prisons last year. The majority of prisoners spoke about having few or no good mental health facilities. That is something on which this Bill should focus. We have to look at poverty. Whether we like it or not, it is one of the causes of mental health, and we have to name it in this Bill.

I cannot say I support of this Bill right now because, again, there are approximately 100 amendments that we in the Civil Engagement Group would like to add. However, we know the Minister of State is open and that she wants better changes for people who are on the margins of society. I look forward to working closely with her on this Bill because we do need a mental health Bill. My mother used to always say, "Never take on a job you can't handle." If we are going to implement a mental health Bill and look at the reviews of mental health in Ireland over the past few years, we have to do it right. We have to make sure it is an inclusive Bill and that we support the workers in these institutions as well.