The position on mental health services in Tipperary is very serious. It was serious all along prior to Covid.

I wish the new Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, the very best. Hers is a very good appointment. I look forward to engaging with and working with her. She has agreed to a request from Deputy Cahill and me to visit Clonmel.

There is not one single long-stay mental health bed in Tipperary. A Vision for Change was a disaster. We lost our wonderful St. Michael's unit, which many used for decades. It was closed. The last Minister of State responsible for mental health, Mr. Jim Daly, acknowledged it was a mistake. He admitted, and his officials now admit, that there is a deficit of 25 long-stay mental health beds in south Tipperary alone. Kilkenny just does not have room for us. It has to cover the whole south east.

I salute the volunteers in Clonmel and those who are picking up the slack, including those in Tipperary's Fight for Mental Health Services; Ms June Looby and all her team at River Suir Suicide Patrol; Fr. Michael Twomey, whom the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has agreed to meet; and Mr. Joe Leahy and all his team at C-Saw. There are volunteers doing the work and providing the supports that the services should be providing. This is not fair or right. Covid has put major pressure on people's mental health and lives. We need action. Words will not suffice any more. We need the beds.

We need our crisis house to be expanded; we are waiting for that also. We need specialist nurses to be appointed on a 24-7 basis at the accident and emergency department to assess patients who present with mental health difficulties and require admission. Many have been sent home and, sadly, many have died.

Outside Dublin, Tipperary has the highest rate of suicide owing to mental health issues. That is appalling at this time. Clonmel, unfortunately, has the highest rate in the county. It is just not acceptable. People are crying out for help. Volunteers and families are trying to support them but there are no services. People are being turned away. I encountered a case last weekend in which a person was sent around from Billy to Jack and could go nowhere. The individual was sent home again and she was threatening to self-harm. Her family was very upset and there was considerable disquiet. Therefore, we need the beds.

I acknowledge that A Vision for Change has been replaced. It is three years out of date. It gave us no change or hope in Tipperary. It was a failure. We need the beds. It is acknowledged by the former Minister of State, Mr. Jim Daly, and the HSE officials that there is a deficit of beds but we need them now. We could find €600,000 recently to do up St. Michael's because of Covid. The authorities refused point blank to allow mental health patients back in or even to have a space there, or one room for those presenting at the adjacent St. Joseph's Hospital with a mental health crisis. Now the facility in St. Michael's is kitted out for Covid patients. I hope it will not have to be used for this purpose. We acknowledge the good work done in this regard but the facility must be kept open. It has been proven that where there is a will, there is a way. Money was found to open the facility for Covid. We must have the facility reopened for mental health patients. The 25 to 30 beds that were prepared, with en suite rooms, must be used to treat the people of Tipperary and west Waterford because they need the services. We must not have the terrible phenomenon of suicide. Too many lives have been lost.

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a serious issue, namely, mental health services in general, but specifically mental health services in Clonmel and the rest of Tipperary. There are two dimensions to mental health services. One is obviously physical facilities. I refer to acute capacity — in other words, acute beds — in particular facilities. The south east in general, including Tipperary, has been short of acute capacity in mental health services for quite some time.

The other aspect is securing the necessary personnel or staff to provide the services once a facility is available. It seems to me, having worked in the area and having engaged with previous Ministers and the HSE, that there has been a significant challenge in recruiting and securing qualified personnel. I welcome that the Deputy has already engaged with the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, on this. I have no doubt she will respond diligently to the points he and his colleagues in Tipperary have made.

With regard to St. Michael's, the Deputy has said physical improvements have been made. We will have to ensure we can get the right personnel in place and recruit the professionals. In addition, we must work with non-governmental organisations, NGOs, some of which the Deputy has described. These can help in providing services to people who have been on waiting lists for far too long trying to gain access to very basic mental health services.

I am particularly conscious that Covid-19 will create additional burdens in terms of mental health need. Many will be impacted so we must improve our services to respond to this. I have heard what the Deputy has had to say. I believe he and Deputy Cahill are meeting the Minister of State. I will certainly work with the Minister of State to determine what we can do specifically to try to improve circumstances in Tipperary.

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. Has he the will to find a way? A Vision for Change has been a failure. A mental health crisis nurse was appointed on a 24-7 basis but did not get the go-ahead because of the embargo on mental health places. This embargo is not fair when people are losing their lives. It is just shocking. St. Michael's hospital has been transformed to deal with Covid. What is happening with mental health services cannot be allowed. The people of the county will not allow the hospital to be closed when Covid passes. We must have the beds used and we must have the qualified staff. The Rolls-Royce community service we were promised when St. Michael's was closed as part of A Vision for Change has not got into gear and we have lost too many lives. Too many families have been left distraught and devastated. There are now many more pressures on people, including businesspeople, owing to Covid so we need the beds. We need the Taoiseach and his Ministers to find a way and to have the will to find it.

First, I do have the will to deal with this issue. Second, as I said, the Minister of State will work with the Deputy on this.

Every region needs acute capacity but the Deputy should not underestimate the importance of strong community-based mental health services. In my view, a continuum is needed. The better and the stronger the community health presence, the less the need for acute admissions. I recall meeting the services in Monaghan a long time ago. At that stage, Monaghan was one of the leaders in developing the non-acute side of mental health services. It is extremely important that we develop both sides in tandem because one has a direct impact on the other. I take the Deputy's points.