I want to raise the serious concern around the glacial pace at which the new mother and baby mental health unit is progressing. We have reporting today from The Journal that nearly ten years after the unit was first recommended in 2017, a decision has yet to be made on where to locate the unit on the grounds of St. Vincent's. That is almost ten years, which is completely unacceptable. It is also an indictment of the State's approach and attitude to maternal mental health. Multiple feasibility studies have been conducted yet there is no progress on a location. It is really beyond belief. It is a sign that we are once again failing women and mothers in Ireland. The establishment of a fully resourced, multidisciplinary mental health unit was an explicit promise in the national maternity strategy published a decade ago. The absence of this unit means the Government is continuing to fail pregnant women and new mothers with mental health difficulties. It means that women experiencing severe mental health issues during pregnancy or post-partum are often treated in general adult psychiatric settings. It means those women are separated from their babies. Despite perinatal mental health difficulties affecting up to one in five women during pregnancy and in the first year after birth, perinatal care in Ireland remains horribly under-developed. I repeat the figure of one in five. Reports suggest women in crisis wait over a month for a first appointment, with others having to drive hours and hours to be seen by one of the only six specialist hubs in the State. Those living in rural or harder to reach areas have to drive hours to access this, with their baby in tow. Further reporting from The Journal notes that hospitals and specialist perinatal mental health services are having to restrict their acceptance criteria due to increased demand. Critical gaps in support mean that women are falling through the cracks and we know this care is actually life-saving. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, at her meeting with the HSE and stakeholders this month, to do everything within the Government's power to expedite the delivery of this unit. It is incredibly long overdue.

We also need a more holistic approach to post-natal care in Ireland more generally, in line with the Year of Care campaign which has been calling for year-long, comprehensive post-natal support for mothers. Without this, we are not doing enough for new mothers and their children in Ireland. It is the glacial pace of so many of these things. We have good commitments around women's healthcare but their implementation is so incredibly slow. We are 50% of the population; we deserve access to the best. We keep reading about how well the country is doing, our great tax draw-downs and fantastic things, yet these basics, the bread-and-butter care that every woman in Ireland deserves, are not being delivered. I would love to have a debate around that issue.