Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I wish her well. We were good friends when we were in the Dáil together. I know she has major challenges and I wish her well with that.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I formally congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on her new position. Knowing her work ethic and her compassion, I have no doubt that she will bring a very positive bearing on the areas of mental health and older people.

I want to talk about the provision of Jigsaw mental health services in Newbridge. The mental health of our young people has rarely been under the level of stress it is at present. Adolescence and young adulthood is a fraught time anyway, but the added burden of Covid-19 restrictions has disproportionately affected the 12 to 25 age cohort. Their education has been completely disrupted and along with it their support network and friendships within the school community. The leaving certificate class of 2020 had to contend with serious uncertainty for several months about their exams and CAO offers without any of the usual rites of passage associated with leaving school. Of course, those doing their leaving certificate in 2021 also have problems.

Third level students and those doing apprenticeships have also seen their lives completely changed and they live with continued uncertainty about the coming academic year. Part-time jobs have been lost and many young people face serious financial pressure combined with the great pressure they face from social media. The burden on the mental health of young people is immense. The need for services aimed at this age group is immense. With this in mind, for some time I have been calling for a branch of Jigsaw to be opened in Newbridge.I have been calling for this since well before the advent of Covid. I had the opportunity to bring the previous Minister of State with responsibility for mental health to Newbridge to visit one of our volunteer-led charities there, HOPE(D), which does incredible work with young people supporting them with their positive mental health. A number of years ago I spoke in the Dáil Chamber about the devastating impact of five young men who took their own lives within one month of each other in the town of Newbridge. It was absolutely shocking. I therefore do not raise this issue out of nowhere. Given all the issues we have at the moment, we absolutely need a branch of Jigsaw in Newbridge.

Jigsaw aims to create a more supportive environment for young people. It also provides online mental health supports for young people, their families and those around them. It provides a community-based, holistic approach and seeks to inform and support people and educate them about young people's mental health. Its services are accessible, visible, effective, inclusive and timely and they are very much needed in south Kildare, particularly around Newbridge.

HOPE(D) is a wonderful charity based in Newbridge. It does great work providing help to those aged 13 and upwards who are battling mental health problems. Of its clients, 25% are adolescents. It needs absolute assistance. It is losing the building from which it currently works and its future is uncertain.

Bringing Jigsaw to Newbridge would be a huge help to the area. We could look at a collaborative partnership approach between HOPE(D) and Jigsaw to give young people the assistance they need as they face into a difficult winter and a difficult year. I hope this can be brought to fruition in the near future.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman and Senator O'Loughlin for the warm wishes extended to me. I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising the issue of the opening of a branch of Jigsaw, the mental health organisation, in Newbridge, County Kildare. She is quite right that I have heard her talk about this over many years; it is not something I have heard for the first time today.

As we all know, Jigsaw is an absolutely fantastic organisation. It has 12 sites nationwide, all of which provide brief intervention and support to young people aged 12 to 25 with mild to moderate mental health difficulties. When I came into this role 11 weeks ago, I met Dr. Joseph Duffy, the CEO of Jigsaw, and was really struck by the way in which it organises and does its business. Most importantly, prior to Covid, one could refer oneself to Jigsaw, so a 12-, 13- or 14-year-old could actually walk up to a Jigsaw premises and self-refer. One can also attend with a sibling, one's parents or an advocate. What is also very important about Jigsaw is that it continues its supports until the person is 25. Child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, for example, end at 18 and then one enters into the adult services. Many 18-year-olds are still in school doing their leaving certificate or they might be transitioning into college, which can be a very difficult time for them. From that point of view, Jigsaw's ethos is fantastic. In addition, what Jigsaw has done during the Covid pandemic is phenomenal. It was able to move online within four days to provide blended support services. Obviously, with Covid, a lot of the face-to-face interactions had to end, but Jigsaw was able to move online and continue its supports.

As the Senator will be aware, mental health continues to be a priority for the Government, and I intend to progress all aspects of mental health in the context of implementing the current programme for Government and the new policy, Sharing the Vision. Mental health service users are among the most vulnerable in society. In recognition of this, €39 million was added to the HSE mental health budget last year, bringing the annual budget to €1.026 billion. This is significant investment but it has to continue. I am in budget negotiations trying to extend that amount. The HSE provides approximately €10 million annually to support 12 Jigsaw sites nationally. A priority for me and the HSE is to open two new Jigsaw services, in Wicklow and Tipperary, by the end of this year.The question of providing new Jigsaw services for 2021 or beyond can only be taken in the context of agreeing the forthcoming budget and the subsequent HSE service plan for next year. It should also take account of other similar early intervention services in an area, whether they are provided by the HSE directly or by another agency on its behalf.

The Senator mentioned HOPE(D), the fantastic work it is doing and that their future is uncertain at the moment. I am happy to visit south County Kildare with her to meet this organisation because it is very important. The number of organisations on the ground providing help and support is phenomenal. It is all about care in the community because that is important. To progress a Jigsaw project in a particular area it is very important to get local community buy-in, the support of the HSE and local authority and to try to identify a premises. That would be very helpful and I will support in any way I can.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minster of State. I will certainly welcome her to Newbridge with open arms to visit HOPE(D) and the Kildare Youth Theatre, KYT, which is another community group that does a great deal of work on positive mental health through the arts and creativity. The Minster of State mentioned the HSE's Connecting for Life strategy, which is important. It states that the rate of youth suicide in Ireland being among the highest in the EU, which is quite frightening. County Kildare has the highest rate in Leinster and it is higher than the national average. I am delighted for the people of counties Tipperary and Wicklow that they have secured Jigsaw centres. However, in previous conversations I have had with the HSE, I understood that County Kildare would have been high on the list. I acknowledge the Minster of State is going to push for this in the budget and the HSE plan. I will add my voice to the calls on the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform. The Minster of State also mentioned the possibility of looking for a building. I have spent some time on that and have identified a few buildings in Newbridge because I appreciate that can sometimes be the biggest problem. I thank the Minster of State and will continue to liaise with her on this.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Senator will appreciate that the HSE has statutory responsibility for the planning and delivery of health and personal social services at local level. The HSE, as is reflected in its annual service plan, strives to deliver services in the best possible manner. Currently, Jigsaw has 66% coverage throughout the country but I would love to see a situation where we have 100% coverage as this is so important. Coupled with this, I have met a lot of youth groups recently. The Senator mentioned the Connecting for Life strategy. I was given figures, which may be revised up or down slightly, that, unfortunately, showed that 431 people took their own lives. That is hugely problematic. I recently met a group who had lost one of their friends in the Kilkenny area. They told me they heard of Jigsaw way too late and it was sad to hear that. At the moment I am working on a leaflet that is going to go into every secondary school next month, which is Mental Health Month. It is a small three-page leaflet, which will identify all the groups such as Jigsaw, SpunOut.ie, MyMind, BeLonG To, and the 50808 text support service. I am happy to say 500,000 of these will go to secondary schools. Students might put them in their schoolbags and might not look at them until night time but they will know there is help and support there. I will do all I can to work with the Senator.