Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of funding for voluntary mental health services in general. This week, within my constituency of Tipperary, one particular organisation raised concerns about its future due to funding shortfalls. I sent a letter to the Minister of State on a matter that concerned the CARMHA, or Connect And Recover from Mental Health and Addiction, organisation on Monday and thank her office for an acknowledgement. I hope my correspondence results in the Minister of State being able to contact the organisation and finding a way to get some sustainable funding for them.

Let me describe the CARMHA organisation, which is based in Nenagh. It provides free counselling and peer support services for addiction and mental health services, which is otherwise termed as dual diagnosis. The organisation was established in 2018 as a direct response to the unmet personal and community needs identified around addiction and mental health issues in rural Ireland. The service has been developed through a collaboration between addiction and mental health professionals, people with lived experience of addiction and mental health issues, family members and a group dedicated community workers. CARMHA provides its services in an integrated way and has a very successful track record. That track record is attested to by the fact that the service has catered for many referrals from the Probation Service, among other State agencies, since it has opened. This week, representatives of CARMHA took the step of going on Tipp FM to tell us that their funding is running so low that if things do not improve, the service will be closed by the new year.

I am aware that the Minister of State has said in previous correspondence that the Department of Health no longer provides any direct funding for organisations and that the HSE funds a range of service providers under either section 38 or section 39 of the Health Act. Before she tells me that I want to tell her that the organisation has been knocked back before. It previously had discussions with the HSE and was left with the distinct understanding that the services it provides do not fit the criteria for funding. When this is told to an organisation providing such an important service and that is as clearly committed to its purpose as is CARMHA, then it is not going to pack up and finish up. The organisation may be disheartened by the Department's response but it will still continue on because what it does matters. With the support of the public and some very kind donors it continues to provide for those who need them. CARMHA is now at the point where the Minister of State must intervene. I cannot overstate the urgency of this matter and the future of this service depends on her response.

The Minister of State must be aware that organisations such as CARMHA started up to address an unmet need. They made, and continue to make, a huge effort to help the people who need the services that they deliver in the surroundings that they provide. Will the Minister of State do something similar? Will she call CARMHA and find a way forward with it? Unless the organisation gets real support, then the people of Nenagh will lose a service that they have fully backed all along, the people who use this service will be severely impacted and the health services will have one less service on which to rely.

As Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, the Minister of State is in a unique position to at least assist CARMHA in sourcing the funding it needs so that it and, more importantly, the people who use its services, can have the certainty that the services it provides now will remain available and funded into the future. Otherwise, in the new year, the lack of sustained funding may cause CARMHA to close its doors for good, which would be a travesty for Nenagh and the people from further afield who use its services.

The Minister of State is in a unique position to help and do something special here. I urge her to act fast. I am aware, through an Teachta Mark Ward, that the additional €10 million announced for mental health provision, which must be spent by the end of the year, has still not be spent. Many community groups that applied have not heard anything back about their applications. I ask the Minister of State to explain that. Will community groups that receive funding by the end of the year be able to carry it over into next year? These groups, including CARMHA, need sustained funding to ensure the services they provide today will be available tomorrow and into the future.

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