Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Another budget day and another missed opportunity for mental health services. This is another letdown for the individuals accessing mental health services and their families. Since this Government was formed, waiting lists for primary and acute services have increased. In some cases, they have doubled. We have seen a lack of further investment in eating disorder services, early intervention in psychosis and perinatal mental health services. We have seen those waiting on such services left out in the cold and waiting each budget day for some help and some hope. Each budget day, though, there is a sense of deflation among those using the services and among mental health organisations, which are starved of funding. There were no welcoming tweets this year from mental health organisations. Indeed, there were no announcement tweets from the Minister of State this year either. She seemed to go into hiding.

Those on the ground know that early intervention is key and that primary care services need to be funded so that acute services are not under pressure. They also know that acute services, particularly CAMHS and the national clinical programmes, need to expand. However, this budget offers little reassurance. One would need to be a forensic accountant to sift through the measures announced in each budget to find out what is real money. The tactic of smoke and mirrors is often used in this regard. We also have to wait for the HSE's national service plan to see what has actually been funded, often to be disappointed once again.

Where mental health is concerned, the Government seems to have thrown in the towel. It is out of ideas and running out of time. Yesterday's budget reaffirmed the need to step aside and let a Government that would implement the needed changes to take over. Sinn Féin would be that Government. Sinn Féin produces an alternative health budget each year, as the Minister knows. It is descriptive, clear and fully costed, with those costs confirmed by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and the HSE. Sinn Féin is serious about funding mental health services, including CAMHS teams, and increasing inpatient capacity. We are serious about delivering the model of care plans for our national clinical programmes.

People have been waiting too long and they deserve better. They deserve a Government that cares. It is cruelly ironic that the budget was introduced on World Mental Health, given that the allocation for mental health services next year is shameful. The Minister of State is not coming in here with bells and whistles on saying that this is fabulous, because it is not. It is less than that. This is not even standing still money. Rather, the budget is regressive. We had a mental health crisis before this budget, and we will still have one after this budget.

Young people, families and communities are crying out for services, resources and help. They were looking on yesterday hoping that this help would come from the Government. If there is any new mental health funding, though, it is buried in a paltry €7.5 million. That was the announcement yesterday, but when I watched the press conference earlier, the Minister of State mentioned a figure of €13 million to €14 million; I am not sure what the figure is. Sinn Féin would have invested an additional €75 million to improve mental health services. It is not standing still money, but money for the development of new services. We would have invested in a raft of measures to make it easier for people to access mental health supports and to cut the long waiting lists. Last year, the Government did not invest in any new development under the national clinical programmes. We hoped that it would rectify that this year. Alas, we were disappointed. For the second year running, the budget does not contain any new funding for eating disorders, ADHD, early intervention in psychosis or suicide prevention. That is shameful. What does the Government say to the people who need help with eating disorders or ADHD, who need early intervention in psychosis or who have suicidal thoughts? What does it say to the young people and their parents who are suffering because CAMHS is on its knees and getting worse? What does it say to those who age out of the system at 18 while they are still in need of treatment and care?

I put it to the Minister of state that it is dangerous for the Government to pay lip service to the area of mental health and not deliver the funding and resources necessary to achieve the radical overhaul that is required. This is why Sinn Féin outlined in our alternative budget €75 million for next year. We need ambition and energy to deliver a world-class, modern, fit-for-purpose mental health system. Treading water and skirting around the edges of the problem will not get the job done. Those living with mental health challenges will feel abandoned and badly let down by the Government today.

When we are being critical, we can sometimes be deemed to be criticising the staff working in mental health services. I spent the recess meeting them. It is a vocation and they do a good job, but they are being let down by a lack of resources and by the systemic failure of Governments.

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