Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that we are having this debate. One of the positive developments in society as a whole in recent years has been an increase in discussion and openness about people's mental health difficulties. We are a long way from the stigma relating to mental health being fully removed but important progress has been made. The reality is that having mental health difficulties is entirely normal. One in four members of the population will experience a mental health difficulty at some stage and close to 50% of people in Ireland have had direct experience themselves or with friends and family.

When it comes to assessing the role of the Government in developments in mental health, the score card is much more negative. The reality is that austerity has been devastating in terms of mental health. Living with unemployment, low income and precarious housing is extremely damaging to people's mental health, and it is seen in the tragic rise in suicides. The figures from the National Suicide Research Foundation are shocking. By the end of 2012, the rate of male suicide was 57% higher than it might have been had the economic recession not happened. It stated that there were 476 additional male suicides on top of what "would have been expected" as a result of the collapse of the Celtic tiger. Unfortunately, the rate of death by suicide is twice as high for those who are unemployed than for those who are at work.

The impact of austerity is giving rise to mental health difficulties. We had the cuts in funding imposed under the previous Government, and continued by this Government, with the result that spending fell from approximately 13% to approximately 6% of the total health budget. We have a promise now that will improve but the reality is that it is still entirely inadequate in terms of what we need. Mental health services were among the hardest hit, with the recruitment ban representing a 10% loss in staffing levels despite the fact that the Minister's A Vision for Change estimates that we need 1,800 new staff. The comparisons with other European countries are devastating in terms of the levels of spending as a percentage of total health spending.

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