Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Deputy McEntee on her appointment as Minister of State and I am sure she will do a wonderful job.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the important issue of mental health services. For far too long mental health services have suffered because of the outgoing Government's failure to allocate the resources necessary to ensure a functioning health service. Despite promising to protect funding for mental health services, Fine Gael and the Labour Party delayed funding allocations and instead diverted money to other areas when crises emerged. It is claimed in the HSE 2016 service plan that €35 million has been set aside for mental health services. However, that plan fails to outline where and when the money would be spent and it merely contains vague references to further specific initiatives.

Mental health issues are bordering on a national emergency. It is disgraceful that voluntary organisations and charities are funding essential services which should be provided by the State. We need to properly fund our mental health services and to stop this practice of raiding the budget every time there is a shortfall in other areas. Mental health services need to be acknowledged as being one of the most important sections of the health care service. We need to start prioritising mental health and this new Government cannot continue to ignore the significant challenges that need to be addressed in the mental health sector. It must begin by securing a workable budget that is properly ring-fenced to ensure that the services are enhanced and improved.

As a priority, we need to engage in and fully appreciate the role that the arts have to play in this important issue. The arts initiative in mental health, which is already happening in some parts of the country, has the potential to embrace a range of arts practices occurring in primary health care settings, which bring together the skills and priorities of both health and arts professionals. This approach will promote health and wellbeing by improving the quality and cultural access into health care settings. The arts initiative in mental health can involve all art forms and can incorporate a variety of approaches. By engaging the arts with mental health services, we can facilitate mental health service users to participate fully in the cultural life of their community. We can challenge the stigma faced by service users and we can enhance the health care work environment and promote the value of the arts within the health care service.

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