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

Mental health is an issue in which I have a great interest and one that is of major concern to the Government. I do not agree with the contention that A Vision for Change has not been implemented at all but I do think it needs to be replaced by a new document. It has reached the pointed where it needs to be renewed. A lot of things have happened since A Vision for Change was first adopted. For a start, we have moved away from treating mental illness largely in hospital settings, or psychiatric institutions as they used to be called, to community settings. There use to be nearly 20,000 people in psychiatric hospitals and mental institutions throughout the country. The position has totally changed. It is now a largely community-delivered service. That brings with it new challenges but I think it is a much better situation than in the past. We have also seen the development, for example, of the National Office of Suicide Prevention and the success it has had in reducing suicide rates over the past couple of years and new programmes such as, for example, Jigsaw and the Children and Young People's Services Committees, CYPSC. We have seen the progress made in recent months in reducing the waiting lists for child and adult mental health services, CAMHS, which are down by approximately 20% or 30% in the past few months and the 24-hour helpline that I launched with the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, only last week. We have over 1,000 different mental health services, but some overlap and there are gaps. People often it difficult to find which is the right service for them at the right time. This new service helps to point individuals in the right direction.

In terms of the money the Deputy mentioned, I often hear figures like €12 million, €35 million and so on. We should acknowledge, and we should at least know in this House, that the budget for mental health for 2020 is over €1 billion. It has increased from approximately €750 million when this Government came to office to over €1 billion now. Of that, there is an increase of €39 million for next year, comprising €12 million or €13 million for new developments and €26 million to pay staff better and make improvements in the context of staffing, etc. It is an extra €39 million for mental health services next year and a budget of over €1 billion for the first time ever. This shows the level of resources that are required and being provided to our mental health services.

The spend in Galway is not a matter for me. I am sure €39 million would cover those costs many times over but it is the responsibility of the national director of mental health services to decide how it is best allocated. I am sure there are many examples of how that money could be spent all around the country but it would not be right, or possible, for me, to identify one and direct that that be done. The national director of mental health services has to look at the entire list of things that could be done and decide how best the €39 million can be spent.

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