An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2025-11-06
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Cathal Byrne (FG), Cultural and Educational Panel

I will speak on the need for a dedicated 24-7 mental health facility for the people of Wexford in County Wexford. At the moment, people experiencing a mental health crisis have to make the journey to the facilities in Waterford. There has long been a campaign for a facility dedicated exclusively to Wexford. We have one of the fastest growing populations of any county, with close to 175,000 people living in County Wexford. I support the campaign for a small, dedicated 24-7 mental health bed facility in Wexford. There has been much discussion of this project in recent years, but regrettably we simply have not seen action. I call for the Minister for mental health to come to this Chamber to discuss the possibility of putting in place a small, dedicated facility. There are fantastic local charities in Wexford, such as It's Good 2 Talk and many others that do great work. However, this is not an issue that should be left to local charities to take up the slack on. Nor should the people of Wexford be forced to travel outside their county to access this important care. The care provided in Waterford is very good. There is excellent staff there, but because of a rising population, we need to have a facility in our county to look after it.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-11-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:17+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-06