I wish to raise the issue of mental health and suicide prevention with the Tánaiste. Yesterday, the coroner's court held an inquest into the death by suicide of a young man in November 2014, Ryan Dempsey from the Liberties. He was in his early 20s and he had his full life ahead of him. He was clearly a young man at risk. He had been discharged five times from accident and emergency units in the six-month period before his death. On one occasion when he took an overdose he was brought to the accident and emergency unit and discharged on the same day. Another time he was found hanging and brought to the accident and emergency unit and discharged 12 hours later. The following day he tried to throw himself out of a window and again he was brought to the accident and emergency unit and he was discharged within hours. On the final occasion he presented himself to the accident and emergency unit where he expressed suicidal feelings. He was left in a room by himself where he attempted to cut himself twice. He was then transferred to a ward and left on his own again. Ryan hung himself and died.

How hard it was for his loving family to see their son suffer like that. The family suffered too as they desperately tried to get the help and support Ryan so urgently needed. They are still suffering the loss of their son and brother. At this particularly difficult time I acknowledge the presence of Ryan’s father, Fran, who is in the Gallery, and members of his courageous family. We failed Ryan. The health system failed Ryan. How different it might have been if Ryan was provided with the proper follow-up care on his first presentation. His family believe that he was not assessed properly, he was not observed properly and his care was inappropriate and inadequate right up until the time he took his life. Ryan was failed by a mental health service which simply does not function at the times when people need it. Accident and emergency units are not the right place for people in acute mental distress.

We must fund the delivery of community and early intervention services, as was promised in A Vision for Change ten years ago. Ten years on, we still do not have a 24-7 crisis intervention service, not a single crisis house has been established and at present there are just 15 suicide crisis intervention nurses in the State. People in distress are presenting to the Garda and accident and emergency units, places where overstretched and sometimes inappropriately trained staff struggle and do their best but they are not capable of providing the appropriate care.

Today, a shocking report issued by the ISPCC further underlined the desperate needs in this area. The report states that children can wait for up to four weeks for an emergency mental health nurse and it takes 18 months to see a child psychologist. I am sure the Minister will agree that is not acceptable. The Tánaiste is not new to government. She sat at the Cabinet table for the past five years. We still lack 24-7 crisis intervention and appropriate support services. When will young people like Ryan be served and not failed by the mental health system?

As Deputy McDonald recounted that individual story, everyone's thoughts in this House are with the family of the young man who lost his life so tragically. Mental health is a priority. We all know it has not been a priority in this country for decades but there is increased investment to ensure that young men and women get the kind of services they need at times of acute psychological distress. There is no excuse, however, for poor professional practice. If a person turns up at a centre, it is clear that proper risk assessments must be made and appropriate action taken. Next week the Minister of State in the Department of Health will present a memo for information to the Cabinet on the establishment of a youth mental health task force to ensure there is an even greater focus on this area. That is part of the process of enhancing services and raising the national conversation to ensure greater awareness of mental health issues. The investment the Government is providing in both adult and children’s psychiatric services will ensure that the kind of risk assessment that is needed is done and that services are available both locally and nationally.

Deputy McDonald is aware that health funding has increased by 5.2% or €41 million and €35 million has been ring-fenced for the mental health area. We have much work to do in the area of mental health to ensure there is a consistent service throughout the country and that young people who turn up at accident and emergency units are referred and have the appropriate crisis service.

As a former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs I am very familiar with the area of children’s services where there has been a significant improvement. We now have 67 child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, teams around the country. As the Deputy is aware there have been recruitment difficulties but those services provide a range of specialist services for young people. Very often it is the 18 to 25 year age group that have had difficulties as they fall between the children’s services and appropriate adult services but I assure the House that there is a greater focus on the area. The Minister of State will focus her attention on it and once the task force is established then a variety of actions will be taken to ensure that the mental health services continue to develop to meet the needs of young men such as the one described by Deputy McDonald who so tragically lost his life.

There is increased investment. The agreed HSE service plan for 2016 highlights the priorities such as the development of counselling services, increased Jigsaw centres that reach out to particularly vulnerable young people in communities across the country and community mental health facilities, to which Deputy McDonald specifically referred, as well as better liaison between acute hospitals and mental health services. That is where the priorities lie. I expect that those services will continue to develop in the coming months because the funding is in place and the political will exists to make sure that we have the kind of mental health services people need.

Ten years ago A Vision for Change held out the promise of a modern, responsive, resourced service for people in crisis and with mental illness, including those with suicidal ideation and who are in acute danger. Ten years on that promise has been broken. That is a fact. All of the talk of political will and priority only serves to highlight the fact that for the past ten years mental health has not been a political priority and that there has not been the political will to ensure that young men such as Ryan, or anyone else in a state of deep and profound distress and crisis, is not left in accident and emergency units for eight hours or longer, because that is the common experience. It is wrong for people in that level of distress to be in accident and emergency units, which as we know are overrun and overburdened as it is.

The Tánaiste mentioned CAMHS. That is a fantastic service but it also has a disgraceful waiting list. The Tánaiste knows that. What I want from the Tánaiste today, and what I know the Dempsey family and others want, is to hear that when the budget comes in October, all of this political will of which the Tánaiste speaks will translate itself in real terms into funds, staff and a plan which, unlike A Vision for Change, will be delivered. If we are to remember and offer sympathy to the family of Ryan Dempsey, surely the only solace and comfort we can offer is that we fix the system and ensure that the political will is more than simple rhetoric.

It is not simple rhetoric. It is borne out by the action plans that have been put in place already. Obviously, we all hear what the Deputy is saying about the particular situation in relation to Ryan and the tragedy that that is. However, make no mistake: we have a Minister of State for the Department of Health focusing on mental health issues and bringing forward plans. We have increased investment. I have said there is difficulty in recruiting staff but every effort is being made to recruit the appropriate staff. That is seen in the huge growth in the CAMHS throughout the country. There are 67 CAMHS teams. Keeping in mind the economic situation that we have faced, if we look back just a number of years, we had nothing like 67 CAMHS teams operating around the country. Some services see people quickly. There are arrangements in place for emergencies. One would hope that young men like Ryan would have been able to access those services. However, we all know that there is further work to be done. The investment is there. I take the Deputy's point about the upcoming budget and the need to continue to prioritise this area in order that people receive help in an appropriate way and that the services link effectively with one another, especially accident and emergency departments and mental health services.