Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an obair ar fad a rinne sí maidir leis an mBille seo. Tuigim go raibh an-chuid oibre déanta roimh an téarma seo nuair nach raibh mé i mo Sheanadóir. Táim an-bhuíoch as an obair atá déanta ag an Aire Stáit. I commend the work the Minister of State has done, both in this term and in the previous term, on this Bill. I was not a Senator in the previous term, and I did not get to take part in these debates, but I really welcome the fact we are bringing a mental health Bill forward. It is a positive step in its own right.

I welcome the fact that this is person-centred in nature and that it is done in consultation with the community, with clinicians who are experts in their field and with service users. We have all been lobbied on this in recent weeks. I have been contacted on a number of occasions, including yesterday, by one member of my own community down home near Loughrea. There is huge concern around the fact that 16- and 17-year-olds are being recommended by the UN not to be treated in the adult ward setting. It is just one small concern I am going to raise to echo the voice of my community. However, I also understand how the Minister of State said that she cannot tie the hands of clinicians as regards clinical decisions. There is a balance to be struck and I am not an expert in that. I do not sit on the committee, although I would like to take part in some of the conversations. However, I do understand that medical decisions have to be made by the experts, so I am not sure how we balance that.

I would like to pick up on some of the comments Senator Flynn just made, and she is right in some of the things she said. I sat on the local Traveller accommodation consultative committee, LTACC, in Galway County Council for five years, and I learned an awful lot. I also sat on the Galway and Roscommon education and training board, GRETB, and worked as chair of the youth work committee. I saw young Traveller boys, in particular, crying out for a purpose in life. While the Senator mentioned the legislative side of it, what we are missing here is the community side of it. The fact is that we are bringing in the interventions at GRETB level, with a lot of intervention programmes that are really showing huge success, but then kids get to 16, 17 or 18 years of age and they hit the roadblock of employment as young Traveller boys. That is a huge thing, especially among men. Male Traveller mental health is through the floor. They are 6.6 times more likely to die by suicide than males in the settled community. Senator Flynn is 100% correct on that. Something needs to be done. What we are missing here is a community aspect outside of legislation that we really need to address as a society and we need to adjust our attitudes towards mental health.

I thank the Minister of State for the 15,000 free counselling sessions that she has targeted at men. I am a man who has attended therapy sessions. I have struggled with mental health throughout my life in my own story. I will not get into it too much, but it is really commendable that she has targeted male mental health with those supports. It is a really positive step. A lot of people go through life not realising that they do need therapy. It is a conversation that men need to open up about. I am probably one of few men in the room right now, but as men, we are a very closed shop at times. We do not talk the way sometimes women are better at doing, and we do not open up and talk about how we feel. That is something we need to change as a society and move our attitudes forward. Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an Aire Stáit arís. Rinne sí an-obair maidir leis seo. Táim fíorbhuíoch as an obair ar fad a rinne sí. Táim ag tnúth leis an obair atá le teacht.