Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)

This morning, I attended SpunOut's 20th anniversary in Dublin City Council and I congratulate the organisation on the milestone. For two decades, SpunOut has been at the heart of youth well-being, and when it was set up, one of the big focuses was on youth mental health in rural areas. I am all too familiar with that. I was a young person who grew up in a rural area and it can be hard, especially in winter months when there is rural isolation, for young people to look after their mental health. I compliment SpunOut on the concept it has been driving for 20 years.

SpunOut provides trusted information on everything from mental health to employment to sexual health, education and navigating the pressures of modern life. It does this in a way that meets young people where they are - online, on their phones - and in language that is clear and simple. We all know young people today face pressures that did not exist a generation ago such as the impact of social media, the cost-of-living crisis, housing insecurity and the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health. Organisations like SpunOut are often the first line of support. They are the ones young people turn to at 1 a.m. when they are anxious, unsure or overwhelmed. Put simply, SpunOut's work saves lives. It empowers young people to seek help, to understand their rights and to look after their well-being. It fills a gap that traditional services, despite best efforts, sometimes cannot reach, but this does not happen on goodwill alone. This morning, SpunOut highlighted the need for sustained multi-annual investment in youth mental health supports. It is doing extraordinary work but the demand is increasing. Young people are reaching out more and earlier. That they reach out earlier is a good thing but they are coming with more complex needs than ever before. If we want early intervention and if we want prevention rather than crisis, then we must invest in the organisations that are already delivering it efficiently. That means ensuring SpunOut and the wider youth sector have the resources they need to expand services, strengthen outreach and continue meeting young people with compassion and credibility.

We often say our young people are our future. That is true but they are also our present. They deserve support now, not in ten year's time. Today, I put on record my thanks to SpunOut for its 20 years of leadership and my support for its continued and increased investment required to ensure youth mental health services are not something we talk about but on which we deliver.