Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Some €115 million in additional funding for mental health services was made available at a time when other budgets across the spectrum were cut. That increase was made by the previous Government so there is no reason to fear no commitment to increasing funding on the part of the current Government. We have committed to an increase year upon year. Obviously, we would like to see the funding increased as much as possible. Our programme for partnership Government outlines clearly that we want to tackle this problem adopting a cross-party, cross-departmental approach and take on board the various issues more specifically.

I am committed to developing youth mental health services, as is the Government with its announcement of a youth mental health task force. That will require funding but the commitment has been made. We will increase funding year upon year but I cannot give the Deputy an exact figure.

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