Dáil debates

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Mental Health Services Funding: Motion [Private Members]

 

9:35 pm

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the debate on mental health reform. I believe this should be debated every couple of months in order to have checks and balances in this regard. I particularly support Deputy Jan O'Sullivan's point about having a monitoring group looking into this every six months and checking where we have come from and where we have not addressed issues that need to be addressed.

The most devastating part of this conversation is that, after being told the €35 million was going to be added on to mental health services, it is not being added and the figure is just €15 million. We must have a House that holds the Government to account and makes it keep that budget of €35 million because we still need that support.

Dr. Shari McDaid attended the Committee on the Future of Healthcare last week and graphically outlined the needs and problems in mental health services. She rightly said:

In 2013, the WHO recommended redirecting mental health spending towards community-based services, including the integration of mental health into maternal and child health, enabling access to better and more cost-effective interventions. A recent evaluation of a parenting programme in Ireland indicated that for every €1,463 spent per child, a saving of €4,599 per child was realized. In this context, it is worth noting that between 2008 and 2015 there was a 38% cut to funding for family resource centres.

That is where money could be put if we do not have staff ready to move into areas of primary care, namely, we could put it into schools to support teachers in dealing with children who are trying to deal with the issues they are facing. That should be taken on board by the Government.

A young woman came to us yesterday. She is a lone parent with four children who is working in a local school for ten hours a week. Her landlord had just written to tell her that her rent was going up by €200 from €1,150 to €1,350 in December. She was in dire straits. Her whole mental and physical health just crumbled in front of us. We see that every day of the week and I am sure other Deputies see it in their clinics, where people come in who are not able to deal with an issue they feel they cannot get over. We have to start looking at those areas where people can access help immediately, but if the Government keeps taking money from where it is needed, that will not happen. The fundamental point made by Dr. Shari McDaid is that what we have now does not go any way to addressing what is a fundamental long-term problem or move us towards a more progressive and reformed mental health service.

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