Debate contribution: Mental Health Provision in Northern Ireland

Debate contribution by Mr Alan Robinson on 30 September 2024.

MLA

Mr Alan Robinson

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

30 September 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Mental Health Provision in Northern Ireland

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4563566

Read the official Assembly record

Text

It is with profound regret that we have had to debate the state of mental health provision in the Province. Despite the progress that we have made in some areas, the state of mental healthcare remains deeply troubling. The sour truth is that the number of lives lost to suicide in Northern Ireland exceeds the number of those who lost their lives during the Troubles. Its trajectory tells us that those figures may indeed get worse. Figures from December 2023 tell us that 17,500 people are waiting for a first appointment. I have no doubt that we would be staring at even starker figures had it not been for the £10 million that was secured by my party via the confidence-and-supply agreement that allowed additional investment in mental health services over a five-year period. As has been stated on the Floor many times, without timely interventions, people's conditions will descend into further decline, and, ultimately, their conditions will become more costly to treat or they will be lost to suicide. The Department tells us that, without additional funding and the ability to invest in the workforce, it will struggle to address waiting lists. On top of that, the Secretary of State tells us that we must live within our means. For someone on that long waiting list, if we were to be honest, very sadly, as things stand, there is no extra money and little hope. Emergency departments will continue to be the fallback position for so many in desperate need, placing further strain on an already struggling health service and adding further pressure to our education and justice systems. Then, we have the situation where those on the outer fringes, such as the community and voluntary sector, which has picked up the slack in providing support for those with mental health issues, have had their funding slashed. It is like a never-ending circle of despair. I fear that we will be having these conversations in a debate on a similar motion before the end of the mandate and that those who come after us will debate these issues in a new mandate just like those before us debated them. I turn to some of the points that were made. Gary Middleton talked about using everything in our power to deal with the issue and about how 1,026 children are on mental health waiting lists. He also called for greater access to GP services. The proposer of the motion rightly paid tribute to groups that are at the coalface of the mental health crisis and said rightly that one life lost was too many. Diane Dodds spoke eloquently, as she usually does. She mentioned that only £9 million had been allocated to the mental health strategy. She also referred to the impact of the Troubles. Órlaithí Flynn highlighted how drug- and alcohol-related deaths have doubled. Danny Donnelly talked about the importance of sport in dealing with health. Robbie Butler referred to the impact of our violent past and to how men are four times more likely to die by suicide. Peter McReynolds said that the motion was one of the most important to have been tabled by the Opposition. Michelle Guy talked about a young constituent, Matthew Taylor. She also referred to the findings and recommendations of a recent PAC report. Timothy Gaston talked about how he has met people of all ages who are affected. He praised the work of Turning Point. Gerry Carroll said that, for groups, it is like pushing a boulder up a mountain. He rightly talked about the cut to the winter fuel payment, which will affect people's mental health. We know that the devastating impacts of mental health disorders, anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses affect people of all ages across Northern Ireland, and the burden of those conditions does not discriminate. It affects children, young adults, parents and grandparents. It affects us all. Every one of us in the Chamber can point to a family member who has suffered or is suffering. Despite the scale of the problem, our mental health services are simply woefully inadequate to meet the growing demands. I hope that the Assembly can support my party's amendment. It is broad in nature — we get that — but the meaning is there. I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate. It has been a worthy debate and has set the right tone.

734 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:10 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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