Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The mental health services were always regarded as the Cinderella of the health service. Has the system improved in its favour or have things gone the other way in the past ten years? I ask mindful that we have incurred the most serious economic crash in our history and that two things came together as demand increased and resources decreased. That was very difficult to manage and still is. All the indications suggest that the estimates to date are way short of what will be required. We must bear that in mind when we deal with this. Have things improved or deteriorated in keeping pace with the rest of the health services?