Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to be negative, but I have been involved in this game for a long time. In the 1990s the level of funding for mental health services was 14%. It is now somewhere in the region of less than 6%. I become cynical when I hear that it will be increased by 5.2% and when talk year after year of the figures of €41 million and €35 million. We never actually get our hands on that money, but it is announced as a new input every year.There is a cynicism in this regard but I hope the Minister of State will be able to write down in black and white where this money is coming from and where it will be allocated and confirm that it will be handed over as opposed to being retained. There was outrage when the €12 million was diverted from the mental health budget and lost in the other services that are seen as being less in the background than the Cinderella that has always been mental health services.

The Health Service Executive recruitment drive in recent years has been miserable. At the most we have attracted one or two psychiatric nurses from abroad. Most of them are too angry to come back. They were forced to leave, and that is a quote from the HSE, as were other medical staff and doctors. They were forced out by the yellow pack, degrading contracts. There is not one of those in the country now, and we are very proud of that. The then Government realised its faux pasin this regard.

Hiring retired staff is a possibility but I can tell the Minister of State that most of them cannot wait to get out the door due to burnout. It is a physically, mentally and emotionally demanding job. We try to do our best but when one is working in chaotic, understaffed conditions and watching the effects of those on patients and their families, it burns one out. We too are human but it is to be hoped there will be some thinking outside the box that will allow us improve the health service, especially in the area of mental health, to ensure it serves the needs of the people.