James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Reference to the funding being withheld came in a parliamentary reply. It stated the funding was unspent. There was a year's preparation available to ensure that this funding would be spent.

The funding is desperately needed in mental health services throughout the country and there is no reason to fail to spend it. The Mental Health Act 2001, which was due to be updated years ago, has still not been updated. Unqualified consultants are practising in mental health - a practice condemned by the President of the High Court. The majority of mental health facilities remain unregulated as they do not come under the MHC's remit. Mental health services in St. Luke's were prosecuted this year, the first time ever a mental health facility had to be prosecuted. Suicide remains the greatest cause of death among those aged between 15 to 24. Primary care psychology is a disaster, with patients three years waiting in my county of Wexford. Anti-depressant prescription is increasing at an alarming rate. The expansion of the Jigsaw service has been held up. When I started here, the Tipperary unit was to be opened within a few months. Three and a half years later, it still has not, yet the Department cannot spend funding. In the Department where most Ministers for Finance seem to suffer from financial incontinence, we have a Minister of State with responsibility for mental health who seems to suffer from financial constipation.

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