Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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253. To ask the Minister for Health further to your reply to my previous question confirming there are no mental health services for lorry drivers whose mental health has been badly affected by other drivers committing suicide by crashing into them, if he envisages any future grants or resources being put in place to assist the Irish Road Haulage Association in helping their members who have been so affected to safeguard and promote their mental health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23689/23]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The previous parliamentary question referenced by the Deputy was not answered by the Minister for Health. However, the following response may be of some interest to the Deputy. 

The Government’s clear commitment to enhancing mental health services is reflected by significant mental health funding increases in recent years. Budget 2023 delivered record funding of over €1.2 billion to underpin implementation of Sharing the Vision, the national mental health strategy, and Connecting for Life, the national suicide reduction strategy.

This included €61 million in additional funding, which comprises €14 million for new developments and €43.8 million for existing levels of service, along with once off funding for essential minor capital works.

These funding increases support agreed mental health priorities under the HSE Service Plan 2023 which include, for example, enhancement of CAMHS, improvement of adult services, better prevention and early intervention supports and expansion of digital technologies.

There have been significant improvements in the delivery of our mental health services over the past number of years and the Government is committed to ensuring continued development throughout this year and into the future.

Sharing the Vision aims to enhance the provision of mental health services and supports across a broad continuum, from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention to acute and specialist mental health service delivery during the period 2020-2030.

Connecting for Life, our national strategy to reduce suicide, has been extended by the Government for a further four years to 2024. This demonstrates our commitment to addressing suicide and self-harm in our communities.

Since 2015, Connecting for Life has provided a comprehensive plan, based on the best international evidence, for how we can reduce levels of suicide. Evidence and experience from around the world shows that measurable improvements in suicide prevention and self-harm can be made by involving both a community and a Whole of Government approach.

The extension of the national strategy to 2024 provides an opportunity to continue to reduce the suicide and self-harm rates in the whole population and among priority groups, including members of the Traveller community, people experiencing homelessness and LGBTQ+ people.

A wide range of mental health supports are available:

• National Counselling Service
• The HSE National Counselling Service (NCS), established in 2000, provides counselling and medium and long-term psychotherapy to adults who experienced childhood abuse. There are 2,500 referrals per year on average, with over 40,000 referrals received since it started.
• Counselling in Primary Care Service (CIPC)
• CIPC is a mental health service provided in a primary care setting. This service is available to adults with medical cards who are experiencing mild to moderate psychological and emotional difficulties, such as depression, anxiety, panic reactions, relationship problems, loss issues and stress. The CIPC model of service is aimed at providing early access to counselling. Clients generally begin counselling immediately following their assessment. In some situations this may not be possible and in these cases a small number of people are put on the waiting list for ongoing counselling. CIPC provides up to 8 one-to-one time limited counselling/ psychotherapy sessions.
• SilverCloud
• The HSE has partnered with SilverCloud, on a national roll out of digital cognitive behaviour therapy. Referrals can be made from Primary Care Psychology, the National Counselling Service, Jigsaw and GPs across Ireland, enabling individuals to access essential supports within 24 hours of referral.
• Text 50808
• The HSE funds the Text50808 service which provides emotional support to anyone experiencing a crisis, through engagement in a text message ‘conversation’ with a trained and supervised volunteer. 
• Telehealth services are fully established including YourMentalHealth.ie; the information line 1800 111 888, and NGO online supports. These include youth specific supports, such as those provided through Jigsaw, SpunOut, and Turn2Me. The majority of telehealth supports are available seven days per week, with some providing 24hour support.
• HSE also funds Samaritansand Pieta’s helplines and support groups offered in the community by GROW.
• MyMind
• With funding from both the HSE and Sláintecare, MyMind has delivered 42,610 online and face-to-face counselling sessions from January 2022-December 2022. Of these, 28,817 online counselling sessions (phone and video) were delivered.
• Aware

The various supports provided by or on behalf of the HSE are not specific to any business sector but are accessible to all the population. However, should the Irish Road Haulage Association want to examine the development a specific initiative, the HSE would be in a position to offer professional advice, as appropriate .