Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House.

Budget day is a very busy day of drama and pageantry, when Ministers are congratulated and denounced in equal measure. All of the drama and pageantry can feel very far removed from the people most directly impacted by the decisions made in this House. The people whose voices we most need to hear are those who experience deprivation and want. They are not part of our public discourse and at times like this I feel acutely aware of their absence.

Budgets are moral documents that illustrate what we do and do not value. An omission can say just as much as what is included. Does budget 2023 reflect the values of our Republic? There are many issues of concern in this budget. My colleague Senator Ruane covered many of these issues when she spoke eloquently during the earlier debate. I will focus on the single issue of mental health which, as members will know, is very close to my heart. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, cares deeply about these issues. I have worked with her on many different mental health issues. I commend her on the €72.8 million commitment in the budget. She has fought hard for the funding and I am certain that it will make a profound difference in the lives of vulnerable people. Mental health issues affect us all but not equally. We are making several steps forward in this area but we must ensure the groups in our society who experience the most acute suffering, including asylum seekers in direct provision, people in prisons and Travellers, get the mental healthcare they need. Senator Flynn will speak about Travellers in a few minutes. People who are on the margins of society have been failed by the State and we owe them a duty of care.

I have congratulated the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on her role in securing mental health funding. I congratulate the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, for the €32.2 million in funding for women’s health. As we all know, Irish women have been let down by the State and the healthcare system for decades. We are still dealing with the fallout from many of these failures. I welcome the new funding, which suggests we are entering a new and more enlightened era. However, I will flag an issue that has been raised by Mental Health Reform and other organisations. I refer to the lack of a specialised perinatal mental healthcare programme. At present, when new mothers require inpatient treatment for perinatal mental health issues, they are treated as regular inpatients and separated from their babies, which is a truly heartbreaking scenario. We need supports that care for women who suffer perinatal mental health illness to be provided in a way that supports their bond with their newborn children.

I have made mental health issues a key part of my work in this Chamber. Even before I became a Member of this House, I was very dedicated to the cause. I left school at a very young age, but I went back to college to train as a therapist in order to give back and do something more than just music. I find it a privilege to work with people who are impacted by these difficulties. I feel very privileged to have gained the confidence of people who have taken the very brave step to seek help, particularly people in addiction or with mental health difficulties and the family members who live with people with addiction problems. The work is fragile and fraught but it is wonderful to work with people who are trying to step into recovery. It is profoundly difficult work, and the people and organisations who undertake such work deserve support as it would provide certainty and peace of mind for these organisations.

One of the big letdowns of this budget is that so much of what has been offered to community and voluntary groups is one-off core funding, which is worrying. The budget provides €110 million for section 39 providers, €60 million for community groups and €7 million for groups working with addiction, mental health, Travellers and refugees. That is a lot of money, and it will go to many worthy causes and do a lot of good, but it does not replace a properly resourced and supported community and voluntary sector. When I perused the pre-budget submissions for the sector, it struck me that organisations repeatedly wrote about the need to move to a multi-year funding model. They seek that because they need to be assured that there will be funding beyond the next calendar year in order for them to plan for the future and expand the number of staff to deal with increasing demand. Many community organisations are operating close to the edge of closure. In the scramble to be included in this funding, I am sure some organisations will scrape by but others will not.

In 2009, I founded the RISE Foundation to provide counselling and support to people with a loved one who struggle with addiction. Organisations like mine that serve vulnerable segments of society are really struggling. These people are more in need than ever before due to the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. These organisations do not have access to enough funding to sustain their services. The constant struggle for survival takes a huge toll on me and many other people in the sector. We do essential work and fill the gaps in the State’s provision of services yet it always feels like we are an afterthought. It is difficult to struggle on when the future is uncertain and we need a more farsighted vision.