Government willing to put mental health ‘on the backburner’– FF

Fianna Fáil has called on the Government to increase funding for mental health services.

The party's mental health spokesman James Browne said the recent budget committed to a €15 million spend in 2017 in comparison to €35 million in 2016.

However Mr Browne said this was a sign the Fine Gael-led Government was willing to put mental health spend on the backburner.

He said: “Mental health is consistently been left aside. There are serious demands on the service across the country.

“In terms of international standards and in terms of what we were spending previously on mental health is that the funding is now not being matched.”

Minister for Health Simon Harris announced in the budget that €35 million in new services would be "initiated" in 2017, in accordance with a commitment by the Government.

“As in previous years, projects initiated in 2017 will not be completed in that calendar year.”

However later in the Dáil, Minister of State for Mental Health Helen McEntee, confirmed that just €15 million of the allocation would be spent next year.

Mr Browne said the Government must also introduce multi-annual plans for mental health services.

Allocating funds on a year to year basis is unsustainable and prevents the development of a long-term plan, he said.

“Fianna Fáil is calling on the Government to set out how exactly it intends on achieving full implementation of the country’s mental health strategy.

"We have made it clear that mental health spending can't be put on the backburner, so it's time for Fine Gael and their Independent colleagues to spell out their plan for mental health services," he said.