I welcome this hugely important motion. I have been fighting in the business committee to have a discussion in the House on mental health services. It is certainly an emergency. I think every TD in this Chamber knows the reality. When people are in a mental health crisis there is almost nowhere for them to go. We see it in our clinics every single week. Deputy O'Donoghue said we have to get this right. Sadly, it is not right. It is a broken system, an absolute disastrous system, to be honest. I have had family members very close to me commit suicide but I also have a constituent who recently tried to commit suicide. The astonishing situation was that I was asked to help and, my God, I could do nothing. I asked two Ministers to help and they could do nothing. That is a serious situation. Basically, the person made a suicide attempt at home and was brought into hospital. He was supervised overnight in hospital and the following morning, the family were told to take him home or he would be dropped off by taxi. Good God almighty, the poor man was still saying he was in a crisis and needed help but he was sent home. The fact that there was self-harm involved meant he had to come back the next day and get medical treatment. Basically, as far as the hospital was concerned, the mental health side of it was finished with. It was not. This man was still in a dreadful position in life. People in that situation need help, and it is not there. This goes back years. A relation of mine was in the same situation but the help was not there. There were a lot of phone calls after the event but that is no good to anybody. After the event is no good. There needs to be a massive rethink here as to how mental health issues are being dealt with in this country because it is certainly not working. That is a shocking indictment. It seems to me that people are only a number. When they are gone, they are gone and we move on. That is not the way it should be. If you were struck down with cancer or a heart ailment tomorrow morning, you would expect to get the medical treatment you deserve. A mental health situation is a medical issue but it is being ignored by Government continuously. We sometimes point the finger. I have great understanding for staff in mental health units because they are under immense pressure. It is a very difficult job and we all know it is not the fault of front-line staff who do their best in impossible conditions. This is a failure of leadership and planning at the top. The system simply is not built to deal with mental health crises safely. Families come to us in absolute despair. They know their son, daughter or partner is suicidal but they cannot get them admitted anywhere. They are told the person themself has to seek help. Even when they do, the help often is not there, as I have just outlined. There is nothing worse than a family begging for help and being told there is nothing that can be done. We all know the pain of losing someone to suicide. Too many families in this country have been devastated by it. It is heartbreaking to think that some of those deaths could have been prevented if there were proper crisis supports, real crisis rooms, real alternatives to emergency departments and real follow-up care. I plead to the people out there who have a mental health illness to look for help and seek help. They should talk to friends, talk to neighbours or talk to someone. I appreciate being given extra bit of time because it is a very serious issue. I know a lot of people are very ill with it. It is sad. It is very sad.

Sentiment score: -0.06