I welcome Ms Eibhlín Browne, Ms Saoirse Houston, Mr. Daniel Stenson, Ms Sinéad Brennan and Ms Maeve Leonard from Dáil na nÓg. Before we begin, I draw attention to the fact that while members of the joint committee have absolute privilege, the same privilege does not apply to witnesses appearing before the committee, even members of Dáil na nÓg. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.
Mental Health: Discussion with Dáil na nÓg.
Ms Maeve Leonard
I represent County Cork on the Dáil na nÓg council 2008-09. We are here to present the work done by the council on the subject of mental health. I ask Ms Browne to make the presentation.
Ms Eibhlín Browne
I am the Roscommon Comhairle na nÓg representative on the Dáil na nÓg council. Comhairlí na nÓg are local youth councils and the responsibility of each of the 34 city and county development boards. They are funded by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and local agencies. Their role is to give children and young people a voice in local decision making. Ideally, they should be a youth version of county councils. There is a comhairle in every county but their input to decision making varies.
Dáil na nÓg is the national youth parliament for young people aged between 12 and 18 years. It is funded and overseen by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The National Youth Council of Ireland, Foroige and Youth Work Ireland work with the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to organise Dáil na nÓg. Through local comhairlí, 200 delegates are elected to Dáil na nÓg. Each of the 34 comhairlí also elects one delegate to become a member of the Dáil na nÓg council which follows up on recommendations made in the Dáil and tries to make changes for young people in relevant areas. Issues discussed at Dáil na nÓg 2008 included teen mental health and education reform. The council meets once a month in the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and divides into two groups to work on these topics. We are part of the mental health group.
Recommendations of Dáil na nÓg have been circulated to members of the committee. Delegates were divided into working groups to produce statements that could be voted on during the electronic voting session in the evening. Every delegate was given an equal vote. The top three recommendations following our deliberations on mental health were: accessible youth cafés in all areas, open when needed, to provide a safe space in which to seek help on drug and alcohol issues and other problems; a positive advertising campaign to show real life experiences and the effects of suicide on family and friends; and more funding for mental health services for young people, including advertising and school programmes.
Ms Saoirse Houston
I represent Galway city on the Dáil na nÓg council. The main aims of our work plan for the year were: to develop an advertising campaign aimed at teenagers in association with the National Office of Suicide Prevention; to refer back to our comhairlí and bring their ideas on mental health to the council; to work with the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in its nationwide consultations with teenagers on mental health; to ask the HSE to provide information packs on youth mental health using information gathered in consultations with Dáil na nÓg; and to demand the opening of additional youth cafés. The Dáil na nÓg council hopes to get more information on mental health, raise awareness about the issue and finish our year with definite achievements. The Minister of State at the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs met us to learn about our priorities and tell us about the work he was doing. He promised to support us in our efforts and meet us again later in the year.
At one of our meetings Mr. Geoff Day, head of the National Office for Suicide Prevention, presented interesting facts which surprised members of the council. His presentation included startling statistics for rates of suicide and deliberate self-harm and the iceberg theory which suggests 90% of deliberate self-harm cases go unnoticed and untreated. What the media report on suicide and deliberate self-harm, it is only the tip of the iceberg. This is an indication of the improvements we need to make in identifying mental health illnesses.
At another of our meetings Dr. Tony Bates of Headstrong made a presentation on the jigsaw youth mental health projects. Headstrong works with those who provide mental health services for young people. Jigsaw is a community based mental health support system aimed at helping young people between the ages of 12 and 25 years to achieve better mental health and well-being. Headstrong involves young people in all aspects of its development. Mr. Day and Dr. Bates advised teenagers against bottling up their feelings, to tackle stress due to exams and try to make it acceptable to speak with their peers about mental health matters.
Mr. Daniel Stenson
I gladly represent County Leitrim on the Dáil na nÓg council this year. Our research analyses young social innovator projects from 2007 and 2008 to identify the number on mental health and their common themes. We found that, of 47 projects on mental health which had been commenced in the previous two years, 16 concerned suicide, 14 were about body image, while the remainder examined the issues of depression, pressure and stigma. We found that excellent, youth oriented services were being provided in the United Kingdom in child and adolescent mental health services, with the website www.camhs.org.uk providing e-bulletins, a booklet on the science of mental health difficulties and the services available, training packages and e-learning material and podcasts.
Suicide statistics from the WHO website are set out on the slides before members of the committee. Ireland is eight from the bottom, although we all recognise that every death by suicide is one too many. The next slide sets out the suicide rate among 15 to 24 year olds per 100,000 population in the European Union. Ireland has the fifth highest rate. These sobering statistics highlight the need to provide more comprehensive services to help teenagers to deal with mental health issues. The next slide sets out the Irish male and female rates of suicide between 1980 and 2002 and reveals that suicide rates among males are considerably higher than among females and that the gap is widening.
The Dáil na nÓg council received information from Ms Marina Duffy who explained the role of the Mental Health Commission and invited us to speak at its mental health day event. Mr. Mark Mulqueen and Mr. Noel Murphy of the communications unit in the Houses of the Oireachtas explained the workings of the Oireachtas and gave us advice on the making of our presentation. Senator Mary White also presented her report on suicide to the council.
We have researched our topic thoroughly and helped the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in arranging mental health consultations with more than 270 teenagers. We spoke at the World Mental Health Day in October, at the Association for Child Adolescence Mental Health conference in November and the UN Human Rights Convention celebration in December. We are currently working on the mental health awareness campaign aimed at young people and we took part in the first meeting to develop the campaign. This meeting was attended by 20 young people, including representatives from BeLongTo, the youth affairs youth forum of the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children, the SpunOut youth panel and Dáil na nÓg council members. Information gathered from the mental health consultations of the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children will also feed into this campaign.
Ms Sinéad Brennan
I represent the Donegal youth council on Dáil na nÓg in 2008. With regard to our future plans, some of us will continue to work on the awareness campaign which is already in full swing. We are hosting a roundtable discussion with policy makers and Ministers on 6 February. Mental health has again been chosen as one of the topics for discussion at Dáil na nÓg 2009, which is on 20 February, verifying our belief that mental health among the teens of today is a crucial issue.
I am sure members are wondering what politicians can do about this. They should ensure realistic funding is provided to support teenagers' mental health, support their Comhairle na nÓg, work with them and ensure they are adequately funded. They are the greatest asset with regard to young people. A politician should ensure his or her local area has a youth café; if it does not, why not? Youth cafés are safe havens and sometimes a second home for young people. Above all, it should be recognised how important mental health is for young people.
In encouraging proper mental health in young people, we are fighting mental illness in advance. Teen issues should be put on parties' agendas. I will quote from the late Denis Burkitt, "It is better to build a fence at the top of a cliff than keep an ambulance at the bottom."
It is especially important that young people develop good mental health. Ensuring good mental health among young people reduces the risk of mental illness as adults. It should be remembered that many of us already vote and the rest of us will be able to do so soon. As members will be aware there is a campaign to allow 16-year-old people to vote, which we are all in favour of. I thank the committee for its time and for advocating good mental health among teens.
I thank the witnesses for a very succinct and compelling presentation. We will now have questions, which we will bank, and we will come back to the delegation after that.
I welcome the delegation before the committee and thank it for the presentation. I commend the witnesses because mental health is very important and often overlooked in teenagers, although this is where many problems begin and can be headed off if dealt with promptly. I fully support what the delegation is trying to achieve. I commend it on the statement that it intends to continue the work rather than leave it behind.
On a broader note, this is a clear example of trying to get young people involved in politics. We would like to think that following on from the submission today some real changes will occur that will convince the witnesses to persuade others that it is worthwhile to become politically active.
Mental health has been the Cinderella of the health services for years, even decades. All one has to do is look at where some of the hospitals dealing with mental health have been placed to get a flavour of the attitude that pertained in the past. St. Ita's, for example, is built at the end of a peninsula. It was originally planned to go on Lambay Island but the cost was prohibitive so they decided to leave it on land. It was more or less out of sight, out of mind.
I support the endeavours of the witnesses in every possible way. I would be interested in hearing further how the witnesses feel this can be done in terms of school curriculum and how this would work within a system that has a leaving certificate focused on getting points. How would that fit in?
It was a very good presentation. I wish that everyone who comes in here would be as concise as the witnesses, who hit all the right buttons. I am not just saying that to flatter them. The presentation was clearly well put together and they must have spent much time on it.
One concern I always have with mental health is, primarily, that people are very uncomfortable speaking about poor mental health. We are always very happy to speak about good mental health, how happy and secure we are and all the rest of it, but there is obvious discomfort when we speak of poor mental health. We all have friends who could be described as being a little bit odd or peculiar and we know what people are talking about when they refer to it. As parents, politicians and young people, we all worry about suicide in youths, which is a significant problem. We must come to terms with this.
Perhaps the delegation is an unusual group of young people. They may not know anybody who has committed suicide. That would be quite unusual in this day and age. Teenagers are emotional; I had four of them myself so I know they are a ball of emotion. The delegation has done well in pulling this together. When it comes to something like youth suicide within a community and the devastation it leaves behind, not just for families but for friends, schoolmates and a wider circle, how should that be dealt with?
I am not asking the delegation to solve that problem today but how we deal with that has a major impact on what follows. That is something only young people can answer as friends and those who attend the ceremonies and ritual that goes along with it. If we could get a handle on that we would do something very useful.
I should point out that Deputies Reilly and Lynch are spokespersons for Fine Gael and Labour Party members.
I welcome the witnesses here this afternoon and thank them for their presentation. I commend them for the work put into it as they have certainly spent much time researching and gathering information. I will make a couple of points relating to youth cafés. I agree with this initiative wholeheartedly as young people need some place to socialise. These must be safe and allow them to meet their friends. As the mother of teenage children, the last place I want to see them is on the streets hanging around corners or shopping arcades and so on. Youth cafés work very well. We have one in Castleblayney that we opened last year and it is a recreational asset to the town in that it is a place where young people can go to meet their friends, as well as make new friends. They are a wonderful idea.
Before I became a politician I was a teacher and one element of the presentation is about making SPHE an exam subject. I would not like to see SPHE made an exam subject as it is the one subject in the week that provides for a youth's space. It is a class for young people to speak about issues that affect them. If it was an exam subject, the young person would be focused on getting through a body of work and curriculum that must be done for an exam. We need less pressure on young people so I would not like to see it as an exam subject.
However, I would like to see it continue on to leaving certificate level. Although it continues to junior certificate level, it does not exist in the leaving certificate programme. I would like to see it remain. As young people will progress through school to face bigger challenges and difficulties with every passing year they need that space to be able to discuss those issues.
Deputy Lynch spoke about suicide. The level of suicide is alarming and there is a difficulty in getting young people, particularly young males, to talk about their feelings, what upsets them and what disturbs them. They may not be able to speak to their parents and sometimes their own friends may not be able to cope with some of the information. It is important that there be systems and structures in place to allow people to feel comfortable when discussing their feelings. I recall attending a funeral some years ago at which a mourner informed a young boy that he was now the man of the house and could not cry. That was a dreadful statement to make. People must be able to cry in order to vent their emotions. Attitudes of this nature make it more difficult for young people to communicate their feelings. Whether it is a friend, teacher or whomever, people should be comfortable in letting them know how they feel.
All schools have anti-bullying policies. However, they work better in some schools than in others. The peer mentoring system under which older students in schools look out for their younger counterparts is a good one. Everyone remembers the one or two pupils who stood out from the crowd when they were in school. These individuals may have been described as being quiet, shy or odd. They need someone to help them get along.
The rate of suicide, particularly among young males, is alarming, as is the tendency towards copycat suicides. I am extremely concerned about some of the rituals that take place following a tragedy involving a young person in a community. When news of such a tragedy filters in to a school, it is almost always followed by what can only be described as mass hysteria. Arrangements are made to obtain CDs to play special songs. It is almost as if suicide is being glorified, which makes it extremely difficult for young people to cope with what happens.
It is important that we continue to promote positive mental health. I will communicate with the Minister of State with responsibility in this area, Deputy Moloney, to discover what can be done to support our guests. We must ensure these statistics will be a thing of the past for them, their friends and succeeding generations of young people. I accept that it will probably not be possible to eradicate suicide completely. However, we must ensure there are systems in place to make it easier for young people to deal with their problems.
I wish our guests well. I am of the view that there are a number of future politicians in the making among their number. I thank them for their presentation.
I welcome our guests. The area in which I live, Sligo, is well represented, as are counties Roscommon, Leitrim, Donegal and Galway. In addition, there is a Cork woman present to fly the red banner. I am sure Deputy Kathleen Lynch smiled when she discovered that fact.
The presentation was excellent. What came across was the wonderful sense of sharing among our guests, particularly in the context of how each of them passed the baton to the next speaker. I do not believe members of the committee would be quite as accommodating towards each other. I hope that sense of sharing and accommodation will always remain with our guests.
I do not know who is responsible for their training at school, but their public speaking abilities are excellent. There was a great sense of confidence about each of them when they spoke. As other members stated, they are all potential leaders. They are already leaders in their communities and schools. I do not doubt that all of them will one day sit on this side of the table and receive a presentation from a group similar to theirs.
Deputy Reilly has made the point that mental health is an important aspect of all our lives and those of our families. Have our guests considered bullying and eating disorders which are probably more commonplace than suicide? Just prior to Christmas the entire country was saddened by the tragedy that occurred in Tipperary when three of the five people travelling in a car were killed. The three individuals in question would have been from the same age group as our guests. Has Dáil na nÓg examined the position on young men speeding or driving dangerously in cars that might not be particularly roadworthy?
Why should the voting age be reduced to 16 from 18 years? I am concerned that some of our guests would seek to take away our jobs if we gave them the vote at 16 years. Reducing the voting age would make us feel extremely old.
I am delighted our guests are present. My daughter was involved, as a member of the Sligo group, with Dáil na nÓg when it was first established. Our guests should keep up the good work.
In order that I might connect with our guests, my last real job was with the National Youth Federation.
That was 60 years ago.
It was not.
It certainly was the last real job the Deputy had.
Deputy O'Hanlon will remember the federation well. It was a great experience for me to work with it and travel throughout the country helping young people. Funnily enough, my particular talent lay in communications, something my colleagues will find difficult to believe. It was an extremely rewarding period in my life.
Other members were parochial and referred to the areas they represented. In such circumstances I will talk about Tallaght, the third largest population centre in the country. Foróige is extremely active in the area in the form of the Tallaght Youth Service. A number of colleagues and I recently attended the review part of a day-long session at which young people such as our guests gathered and discussed issues of concern to them. I informed those present at the gathering that I was particularly struck by their desire to grasp what I termed the "nettle of serious issues". Our guests referred to every one of those issues — drugs and alcohol, bullying, mental health challenges and suicide — in their presentation. Yesterday I attended an Oireachtas education session held at Greenhills Community College and, again, these were the issues students wished to discuss. That is extremely refreshing. Members of my generation did not grasp the nettle in respect of the issues to which I refer but it is important that this be done now. We should not be afraid to raise with our guests those issues of major concern to us.
Deputy Neville is Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the High Level of Suicide in Ireland. Unfortunately, his wife died earlier today in Limerick. As members of that sub-committee, Deputy Neville, Senators Mary White and Prendergast and I have been struck by the nature of the work with which we must deal. We are politicians and obliged to deal with serious issues relating to footpaths that have fallen into disrepair, broken street lights, social welfare payments and houses of concern. However, we are always cognisant of the way people are affected by suicide. It is good that we are discussing with our guests an issue that is clearly of major interest to us all.
I was interested in Senator Feeney's comments about the voting age. I apologise for doing so, but I must again refer to Tallaght which is a good place. It has a young population and an extremely active youth group. Killinarden community school is mounting a major campaign to try to persuade the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to change the legislation and reduce the voting age to 16 years. I would be interested in hearing further views from our guests on this matter.
Our guests met the Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Barry Andrews. Those of us who have been involved in youth work have a view with regard to the responsibilities of the Department in respect of children and youth affairs. The Minister of State is a fine individual. Do our guests have a view on the remit of the Department? Is it very wide? Concerns have been expressed about grants from the Department for groups dealing with the drugs problem. Is this something about which the group has talked?
We should always state these sessions are very important. As mentioned, it is important that the committee meet groups on a regular basis. This meeting is particularly important because the members of the group are here as equals. As Senator Feeney said, they may yet be Members of the Oireachtas. I was not one of those who at 13 years of age sat at my desk in school and said I wanted to be a Deputy. People develop in different ways. However, we are impressed by the manner in which the group has presented the issue which is a very serious one for us, as legislators. I wish it well in that regard, although I am sorry none of them is from Tallaght.
I am sure the Deputy is very happy none of the group is from Tallaght if any of them is considering elected office.
I have no problem sharing my career choice.
The group has certainly stimulated members but I must draw their attention to the fact that time is ebbing away and there is another deputation due at 4 p.m.
I commend the group on the content of and the manner in which it delivered its presentation which was very refreshing. Much of the emphasis in its document is on the school. I am interested in other youth activities, in particular youth clubs, Macre na Feirme, Fóroige and sports organisations, and the amount of time given to discussing health promotion. At least half of all illnesses are self-induced in some way or another by our lifestyle. It is very important when we are young to look at ways and means by which we can avoid illness. Many issues have been mentioned in passing, including suicide and car accidents. I do not believe smoking was mentioned and hope it is a thing of the past among the group's age group. The abuse of alcohol and drugs, obesity and bullying have been mentioned. I would like to see at least five minutes of every youth club or sports organisation meeting devoted to some aspect of health promotion. This would make a very big contribution to positive mental and physical health. Is the group doing any work to that end?
The group has given suicide figures which it received from the World Health Organisation. Has it looked at some of the reasons? The figure in Greece is 3.1 per 1,000 population and in Lithuania, 44.7. Why is the rate among under 24s in Ireland three times higher than in Britain?
I commend the group on the work it is doing. We have noted the point made about what it expects us to do.
I welcome the group, the members of which made very precise and to the point presentations. In my early days in politics, when I was first elected to Donegal County Council, I was the first to look for a youth council to be set up in 1999. A Fine Gael colleague of mine in those days, Deputy Joe McHugh, was also elected to the Dáil.
I am delighted the group is up and running. It is excellent to see the way it has grasped and understands the issues. I would like to see this developed further. The Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, is very interested in helping the group and obtaining its views which are very important in tackling these issues.
Has the group considered doing research to ascertain where mental health problems begin? Much of the time we are inclined to throw money at problems to solve them rather than finding the cause. Many mental health problems may arise in the home or through bad parenting. It is not really accepted in society but there is bad parenting, which is not the fault of the individuals concerned because they do not know any better. However, it is a matter which deserves more research and analysis. It is possibly one at which the group could look.
We will bring the issues the group raised today to the attention of the relevant Ministers of State, Deputies Barry Andrews and Moloney. Fianna Fáil created their portfolios to tackle the issues raised. I look forward to working with the group and it working with the Ministers of State. We hope to improve matters for all concerned. I wish the group the best of luck in its work.
I welcome the representatives of Dáil na nÓg. It is great to see so many from the west, north west and south. I am also delighted with the gender balance, which is a damn sight better than here. That is definitely something we have to take on board. Whatever it is doing, it is doing it extremely well. Perhaps it could come up with ideas on how we might promote an increase in the number of women elected to the Dáil.
The group made an excellent and professional presentation which was very much to the point. Like Deputy O'Hanlon, I am very interested in the statistics and their explanation. As regards the overall suicide figures, we are in the bottom eight but when one looks at the rate among young people, we seem to stand out. Is the reason the figures in Britain are so much better in that category that it has such a good system of making information available electronically? I am intrigued by the figures for France where the overall rate is 18.4 but the figure among young people is 7.9. Is there a particular programme targeted at young people? Perhaps we could follow up on what is being done in France.
I am sure the group is aware that there is a problem in my constituency which is of great concern to the community. I am very interested in its study and look forward to seeing how it proceeds.
I heard Saoirse Houston speak about youth cafés. Many years ago I was chairperson of the health board when the Gaf opened in Galway. It was a fantastic success and one of the first youth cafés in the west. It is an excellent idea.
The group has referred to the campaign in which it has been involved. What does it entail in improving mental health among young people?
The group asked us for realistic funding. For how much is it looking? Has it costed this initiative? What exactly is the money for?
I compliment the members of Dáil na Óg. We could learn from its presentation and knowledge of the subject. In how many counties have youth cafés been opened? I presume funding is provided by the Minister of State with responsibility for children and the Department. Are they run by the county development boards and manned by young people or adults? If young people go there for advice, who is available to advise them and what professional help is available?
I join in the welcome and apologise for not being present to hear the group's presentation, as I was in the Dáil Chamber. Unfortunately, I do not have enough help here yet. I will read the submissions presented to the joint committee.
I wish to make a couple of observations. Mental health services, not only child and adolescent mental health services, are the poor relation in the delivery of health services in this jurisdiction. Let me give one example. In 2008 the child and adolescent services in my area were suspended for all but emergency cases such was the demand and the poor resourcing of the service in the north east region, specifically Cavan and Monaghan which I represent here. The situation that gave rise to the suspension has not been satisfactorily addressed in the further resourcing of the service and, without question, young people have suffered as a consequence. This is disturbing and an issue with which we must grapple.
It is wonderful that a team of young people is speaking about this issue because for many older generations, this has been almost a taboo subject. The fact that the representatives of Dáil na nÓg are here to address this important subject, on which I commend them, gives me tremendous encouragement. I welcome their interest.
The World Health Organisation recommends that 12% of the annual overall health budget within any jurisdiction should be ring-fenced for mental health services. These are services on which we must collectively campaign, including those within political life and civil society and representatives of various sectors within it. In particular, we need to hear a young voice which has not been heard in the way it should have. Young people not only need opportunities but also an ear to listen to what they have to say.
I read the ten statements from Dáil na nÓg 2008 and the key issues the representatives identified were, to list the first four, suicide, bullying, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol. As a parent, I am aware that self-image, confidence and the strength to be able to say "No" are critical components in helping young people to face the challenges posed in society today.
My colleague made the point that the representatives were all here as equals. That is the case but, sadly, not all young people have equal chances or get an equal break in life. Many of the issues they have highlighted are the dreadful and sad consequences of the failure to properly respect and empower all young people to face the challenges presented and be able to say "No" to bullying, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol and suicide. That requires critical investment in mental health support services available to young people — the fifth key issue identified. It is on that issue that the lobbying must continue. I do not want to see a further suspension of services, as happened in my own community last year. It will take the collective voice of the representatives, and ours, to ensure that will never recur.
There is a lot of ground to be covered and I ask the representatives to be as succinct in responding as they were in their initial presentation. I understand Deputy O'Connor wants to ask another question.
Senator Prendergast and I would like to know if the group has made a submission to the sub-committee of the joint Oireachtas committee chaired by my colleague, Deputy Dan Neville. If it has not, it might consider doing so.
Does one of the representatives want to summarise the position and address the questions posed?
Ms Maeve Leonard
Which one?
My question concerned the ritual surrounding a suicide in a community.
Ms Maeve Leonard
Our research has shown the effects of suicide. However, it is not our job to deal with the issue but to do research. The purpose of the advertisement campaign is to raise awareness of the issue and, we hope, remove the stigma attached. Dealing with the issue is out of our field.
Do the representatives know the number of youth cafés nationwide? I hope I am not putting them on the spot in asking that question.
Ms Sinéad Brennan
We are not sure of the total number. We have not researched that aspect fully but there is one in my local area and, as far as I can see, it is very effective. There are youth workers who are trained to talk to young people about certain issues but only one of them can give advice on sexual issues. There are seating areas and opportunities for young people to participate in such courses in peer leadership and peer education, which are invaluable. They are considering having a nurse available every Saturday should young people have any concerns or sexual issues that need to be addressed. If they feel embarrassed about going to the local general practitioner, they can go to the youth café. That is the reason it is essential youth cafés are opened in every area. We have found that they help to prevent mental illness because they are places in which young people can sit and chat to each other and escape from the concerns and stresses of life.
There is one in Tallaght.
Ms Sinéad Brennan
It is the smallest one.
In fairness, the Tallaght Youth Service does a tremendous job.
She has her own.
I know that.
Do the representatives want to answer any of the other questions asked or do they want to make some concluding remarks?
(Interruptions).
Ms Sinéad Brennan
Yes.
The Minister, Deputy Lenihan, visited it a number of years ago.
Ms Sinéad Brennan
It is a brilliant set-up.
Are the representatives happy with the funding they are getting from the Department?
Ms Sinéad Brennan
I am no longer as actively involved owing to the pressures caused by the leaving certificate and so on but as far as I am aware, they are well funded. However, additional funding is always needed and valued.
Do any of the other representatives have anything to add?
Mr. Daniel Stenson
Deputy Lynch raised the issue of the effect of suicide on the community. We experienced the effect of the suicide of a well known member of our community in Drumkeerin, north County Leitrim, about five years ago and because ours is a small community, everybody comes together on such occasions. If we had resources from the Department of Health and Children, we could all come together and deal with the problem of suicide. We must all tackle the stigma attached to mental health problems. Youth cafés are brilliant because they help teenagers with issues about mental health and their physical health.
On behalf of members, I thank the representatives for their presentation and express the hope we can maintain contact with them on this issue at least. They might note Deputy O'Connor's point that members could make a useful input. It is interesting that the representatives are challenging us on a range of issues but the work they are doing in their local communities in highlighting suicide and mental health issues among their contemporaries is possibly far more important than anything we might do because it involves a process of destigmatisation and normalisation in highlighting mental health as an issue to be discussed among young people. I thank them for attending and look forward to maintaining ongoing contact with them.