Minister at Dundalk Youth Centre
YOUNG people from Comhairle na nOg voiced their views on mental health when Jim Daly TD, Minister of State at the Department of Health, paid a visit to Dundalk Youth Centre to coincide with Mental Health Week.
Minister Daly who has responsibility for mental health, was presented with a booklet on mental health which has been produced by Comhairle na nOg.
He listened to Sonia McKeown, Cian McGuinness and Josh Challoner, as they highlighted issues facing young people and what needs to be done to make services more accessible.
Minister Daly praised them for the work they were doing and commended the leaflet, saying it was something which could be copied in other areas.
He highlighted a new website, YourMentalHealth.ie which is a one-stop shop for young people looking for information on mental health services in their own area. He also explained that a new telephone service is being rolled out by the ambulance service in the coming months which will give callers access to trained psychiatric nurses who will be able to refer them to the relevant service.
He acknowledged that there were long waiting lists for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services but pointed out that 114 assistant psychologists had been recruited so that they could roll out another level of service as not everyone needs to see a consultant psychologist,
Kevin Moran of Dundalk Youth Centre outlined work which they are doing under the Healthy Ireland Programme, including sports, cooking and a smoking cessation project.