Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The total allocation for mental health services in 2024 is approximately €1.3 billion, which is the fourth year in a row in which the mental health budget has been increased. This increase in funding for mental health services represents a significant investment which will enable continued policy implementation and service improvement in line with our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision. This year’s budget allocation builds on the investment this Government has made over the last number of years to deliver the policy priorities of Sharing the Vision through the provision of mental health supports across a broad continuum from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention, to acute and specialist mental health service delivery, and enabling us to continue to deliver our vital services to as many people as possible, as we move into 2024.

As part of the funding allocated to mental health services, new development funding has been secured to advance initiatives on youth mental health, and around priority groups identified within our national suicide prevention strategy Connecting for Life. This new development funding will be focused on increased CAMHS staffing, a new Youth Mental Health app, a referral pilot for children's community services including CAMHS (piloting an approach to service referrals known as ‘No Wrong Door’), the expansion of Suicide Bereavement Liaison Services, and expanding the Traveller Counselling Service to achieve national coverage for the first time.

As occurs each year following the Budget, discussions will now take place with the HSE on details relating to specific service initiatives in the context of preparing the HSE Service Plan 2024, including that for Mental Health.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Both Connecting for Life, Ireland’s national strategy to reduce suicide and Sharing the Vision – Ireland's Mental Health Policy recognise that there are distinct factors affecting the mental health of priority groups. Priority groups are identified by the World Health Organization as individuals or groups who may have a higher risk of experiencing mental health difficulties related to situations and environments that they experience, which results in increased vulnerability and marginalisation within society.

Work is ongoing to ensure that priority groups remain central to the ongoing work of policy implementation and in ensuring that priority groups are further prioritised in the forthcoming Sharing the Vision Implementation Plan 2024-2027. In this regard, the HSE's social inclusion workstream provides regular updates to the National Implementation and Monitoring Committee (NIMC) and the Reference Group (stakeholders and user representatives) of Sharing the Vision.

Recommendations in relation to the forthcoming Mental Health Promotion Plan provides for specific initiatives to incorporate targeted mental health promotion and prevention actions in recognition of the distinct needs of priority groups.

Further recommendations recognise the specific needs of the mental health model of care required by the prison population that is recovery-oriented and based on integrated coproduced recovery care plans supported by advocacy services as required.

In relation to the Traveller community, the Traveller Health Action Plan was launched in November 2022. The Department of Health and the HSE are committed to developing priorities, strategies and actions on Traveller mental health within the framework of the National Traveller Health Action Plan. These are intended to respond to the crisis in Traveller mental health and address the social determinants of Traveller mental health through targeted and mainstreaming measures.

As a first step, the Traveller Health Action Plan contains six actions on Traveller mental health. These will be delivered through the HSE national service plan for 2023, supported by an additional ring-fenced budget of €300,000. The actions reflect the priority status of Travellers in the Government mental health policies, and will be reported upon as part of the Sharing the Vision Implementation Plan 2022 - 2024. Progress will also be monitored under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy.

The Department and the HSE will also engage with the Traveller mental health network to develop and expand the actions as part of a mental health priority plan, within the framework of the Traveller health action plan. The newly established HSE steering group on Traveller mental health will consult with the Traveller mental health network on this task. Traveller representatives have been invited to be part of the group.