Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. While I welcome also that we are discussing the issue of mental health this evening there is, in some respects, a sense of déjà vu in that we have discussed this issue a great deal over the past two years. While on the one hand, this is reflective of the priority which Members on all sides of the House give to this issue and the growing public concern about mental health problems, including depression, the alarming suicide rates and so on, on the other hand it indicates that services have not improved. While Members on both sides of the House have welcomed the additional €35 million set aside for mental health services in the last two budgets, the €35 million was not provided last year. Despite several questions having been asked in regard to whether the €35 million had been provided this year and, if so, on what it had been spent, they were not answered.