I really welcome Sinn Féin bringing this motion forward. I welcome the fact the Government is not opposing it. I thank Deputy Cullinane and Deputy Sorca Clarke for their calls for reform. This morning, I spoke at an event for Movember. I was not invited there just because I have a moustache. Before I got involved in politics, when I was shouting from the outside of this House during lockdown, I ran an event for Movember called Movement for Mental Health. It was when we were in those confined areas. I was trying to get people out and put it on their social media that they were moving and getting active. We raised €20,000 and it was great. From that, my passion came forward. I have lost friends, be they schoolmates, people I used to serve and people I was always working for and working with, to suicide. The Minister of State is very well aware of this. It is the hidden fact of mental health. I was very lucky that, when I struggled with mental health when I was younger and in those developing years, I went to a university that had a free counselling service. I know people who look at me now might ask, "How did he struggle?" It is the people we do not think are struggling who are struggling. I have seen that with my friends. We are always going back and wondering why we did not ask him or her about it. That is the part we all can resonate with in Ireland. One in five people experience it in their life. Can the Minister of State see the badge I am wearing? It reads, "It's OK Not to Be OK". That was started by a lady named Theresa Kelly, from Edenmore. What she has done is to not accept the delays in legislation. She has taken something into her own hands. It is good to see Dublin City Council getting behind it. It is good to see other Deputies and other councillors from Dublin getting behind it. What she has done is create a badge for people to wear to break the stigma on mental health. I was at schools recently giving out the badges. Everyone is getting behind this campaign. There are people in crisis who are waiting hours, sometimes days, on trolleys in emergency departments, as everybody across this House has said. It is not the hard-working men and women in our hospitals who are the problem. The problem is the current system for getting people the help they need. As I said, I was lucky to have been going to a university that had it. Some people do not have that chance. There is a huge statistic on the economic barriers people are facing for mental health. Regarding the "It's OK Not to Be OK" badge, it is a small badge, but there is also a little card they give out. What the card does is give people information on eight free services they can go to, be it the Samaritans, Pieta House, Woman's Aid, Men's Aid, Childline, Alone, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, homeless emergency accommodation and all these great organisations. Giving people that little card with all the information in one place gives them that option. It is not just that, however. It is the fact that it is being supported across the House. I love when it happens that there is an issue and people put aside politics and just get to the solution. The leadership I have seen from Theresa has been unbelievable for someone who is not in politics. To have her work rate is something I aspire to. She does not have an off switch. Now, we see that for young people in Ireland mistakes and rejection are made public. People only show the good side of their lives on social media. Statistics show that young people are experiencing mental health issues at a higher rate because of social media. It is because of the pressures that are on them these days. I welcome the motion, and I would love if youth services were properly funded, community counselling was more widely available and for addiction services and family supports to continue to be rolled out. There is great work being done across those Departments. It is not just about normalising the struggle. It is about how "It's OK Not to Be OK", and it is absolutely okay to ask for help. If there is anyone watching us in this Chamber on a Tuesday night and we can change one life and show people how to reach out, then we have been successful. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion.

Sentiment score: 0.16