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

The funding for mental health has increased considerably in recent years - by more than €100 million a year. It has increased this year from €826 million to €853 million. For example, the budget for the National Office for Suicide Prevention has more than doubled in recent years. We are now seeing a reduction in suicide rates. It is already the case that suicide rates in Ireland are below the average in Europe, although there is a particular high level among younger people and younger males in particular.

Some 100 new assistant psychologist posts have recently been sanctioned. That is particularly for the early intervention primary care area. The contract has been signed for the new forensic mental health hospital in Portrane. It will replace a very old facility in Dundrum with a new state-of-the-art one that is now under construction. In the first five months of 2017, there have been 136 CAMHS admissions, of which 44 were child admissions to adult units and 92 to CAMHS units. The Mental Health Commission report for 2016 shows a downward trend of about 30% in the number of child and adolescent admissions to adult units, compared with 2015. However, I appreciate that we have had a step backwards in recent months.

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