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Seanad
‹ Order of Business

Mental health services

Summary

Senator Devine called for stronger mental health action, including 24/7 services and full implementation of A Vision for Change, and linked it to a campaign for better access.

As this is lá Bríde - the Celtic spring - I want to talk about mental health. As there is an extra two minutes of daylight a day, it will improve, but, obviously, without Government action, the position will not improve significantly. On the back of a report prepared in Denmark by the Happiness Research Institute, mental health campaigners are calling on all of us to switch off Facebook for the month of February. I doubt that we will be able to do it, as politicians, but it has certainly been found that there is a 55% increase in mental well-being once we stay away from the dreaded social media that eat up our time. This morning we delivered a petition from Uplift, Mental Health Reform and Lust for Life on the #inourhourofneed campaign to the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, at the gates of Leinster House.

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