Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 222: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the funding for 2005 and the estimate for 2006 in relation to mental health services and suicide prevention initiatives. [19498/06]

Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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An additional €15 million revenue funding was made available for the further development of mental health services in 2005 and a further €25 million has been provided this year for the further enhancement of services in line with "A Vision for Change", the recently published report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy. This brings the estimated total revenue spend on mental health services in 2006 to over €800 million.

In addition to existing funding, a further €0.5 million was allocated in 2005 to commence the implementation of "Reach Out" — the National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention and a further €1.2 million has been allocated to the HSE in 2006 specifically for suicide prevention initiatives. It is estimated that since the publication of the Report of the National Task Force on Suicide in 1998, a cumulative total of more than €20 million has been provided towards suicide prevention programmes and for research.