Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Historically, there has been significant variation in mental health funding across the country. This was influenced by the location of major mental health institutions and different priorities on the part of health boards over the years.

The establishment of the HSE mental health division in mid-2013 created a national management structure for all mental health services. In 2014, the division commenced a process of developing financial information specific to mental health services. This exercise included the validation and costing of approximately 9,000 staff working in HSE mental health services nationwide, representing about 80% of total spending on mental health services. This work is continuing. As there is no single financial ICT system available to the HSE, such validation is labour intensive and difficult to achieve with full accuracy.

This financial analysis has been combined with population figures adjusted for deprivation to inform decisions regarding the allocation of new funding in 2014 and 2015. In this way, the HSE mental health division is moving towards population-based funding through reassigning discretionary funding in favour of comparatively under-funded services. The information and methodology will continue to be refined in order to support funding allocations and arrive at a situation where mental health spending per capitais more consistent. It is recognised that such allocation processes have to be phased in to allow time for costs to be adjusted in line with national norms.

The Deputy may wish to note that, in response to Parliamentary Question No. 22548/15, the HSE in its reply of 30 June 2015 gave detailed financial information for mental health, broken down by geographic area for the years 2013-15, inclusive. I will arrange to have a copy of this information sent to the Deputy.

The Deputy will appreciate that the Government has made significant efforts to prioritise and modernise mental health care nationally. While the concept of geographic equity is to the fore in allocation decisions, other practical realities have to be taken into consideration such as the need to address delays in accessing services and the need to introduce alternative community based models of care.

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