The Mental Health Commission has said there is "an urgent requirement" to increase the level of annual funding for the State's mental health services.
In a statement, the commission said plans to sell off surplus lands at some of the State's psychiatric hospitals will not address the overall funding of the mental health services, which now amounts to just 6.8 per cent of the total health budget.
But the commission said it welcomed the Government's commitment to invest funds from the sale of such lands into the "development and enhancement of our mental health services.
"This source of funding was one of those identified by the authors of Planning for the Future - the policy document which has informed the development of mental health services since 1984," it said in a statement.
The Mental Health Commission, an independent statutory body responsible for promoting high standards of care and good practice in the mental health services, said research had identified key elements in effective models of intervention and treatment.
"These include the provision of community-based services, in both acute care and longer term care, by multidisciplinary teams. Access to specialist services for such groups as children and adolescents, older people, people with an intellectual disability and mental illness, and people who are homeless, is also essential."
It added that the participation and involvement of users in their own care plan and in the planning and delivery of services was key to providing "effective, comprehensive and quality mental health services.
"It is the view of the Commission that there is an urgent requirement to increase the level of annual funding for the mental health services, and that the funding should be earmarked for investment in those areas of identified need and best practice," the statement said.