Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with almost all the points the Deputy raises. Mental health provision in the health service has been grossly underfunded in the past. I spent three years on the former Southern Health Board's mental services committee, as it was known at the time. Until recently, there was a significant deficit in terms of funding and expenditure in this area. The programme for Government included a commitment to a special additional allocation to mental health services of €35 million last year and this year, respectively, primarily to strengthen community health teams in adult and child mental health services and further develop suicide prevention initiatives. The majority of the recommendations of ReachOut, the national plan of action on suicide prevention, have been implemented. The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Alex White, will shortly bring proposals to Government on alcohol misuse which, as the Deputy will be aware, is frequently linked to mental health and suicide.

I agree with the Deputy that mental health services have been wrongly neglected in respect of funding and prioritisation. The position is changing under this Government, not before time, and we will continue to prioritise the mental health sector. For example, in January last, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, launched guidance on mental health and suicide prevention for post-primary schools. The Deputy is correct to continue to raise this issue because it is one on which the Government needs to be pressed. I assure him, however, that we are more than aware that we must catch up in the area of mental health services. We are acting on this issue by increasing expenditure and launching new initiatives to try to address the matter.

On the question of whether an all-island approach is required, the honest answer is that I do not know whether conversations on this issue have taken place on a cross-Border basis. I will, however, ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy directly on the matter.

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