Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

This is my final question, although I am not sure if the Minister of State can answer it. According to A Vision for Change, Sharing the Vision and Sláintecare, the budget for mental health care should be close to 10% of the overall health budget. It is currently half that, accounting for 5.1% of the health budget. In Britain, the figure is 13% and other countries spend between 12% and 14% of their overall health budget on mental health services. In Ireland we are quite behind. In the lifetime of this Government, how will the mental health spend be addressed in relation to the overall spend on health? If we double spending in the next three and a half years, the outcomes will be much better for everybody. What is the commitment, in the lifetime of this Government, to address the historical legacy in regard to mental health spend? I understand that money has been allocated to mental health care but it is not nearly enough. That has knock-on effects in regard to access to mental health care.