I thank the Deputy. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, who unfortunately cannot be here today. The total allocation for mental health services in 2026 is almost €1.6 billion, the sixth year in a row in which the mental health budget has increased. This increase in funding for mental health services will enable continued policy implementation and service improvements in line with our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, and our national suicide and self harm reduction strategy, Connections for Life. Across the board, we have seen mental health promotion and early intervention through specialist mental health services. This record budget will allow for a focus on improving support for people in mental health crises in hospitals and in the community through an additional €15 million for crisis supports and suicide prevention. Significant progress has been made over the past three years to develop alternative crisis mental health pathways. However, emergency departments continue to see high volumes of mental health presentations. Investment this year will be used to establish specialist nursing teams in all model 4 hospital emergency departments, three new crisis resolution services in Donegal, Kerry and the midlands, 12 additional suicide crisis assessment nurses and several Traveller-specific suicide prevention initiatives, the development of the new crisis response pathway for children and young people, increased funding for suicide prevention community and voluntary organisations and funding to implement the new suicide reduction strategy. As occurs each year following the budget, discussions take place with HSE on details relating to specific service initiatives in the context of preparing the HSE service plan for 2026, including that for mental health.
Sentiment score: -0.15
I absolutely agree. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is very passionate about this and has been working very hard on it. There are three new crisis resolution services, that is, crisis cafés, to support people in distress. They are located in Donegal, Kerry and Tullamore in the midlands. An allocation of €4 million has been given for this. Funding of €1 million has been provided for 12 additional suicide services where nurses support people in distress who present to GPs in the community. There is funding of €415,000 for several Traveller-specific suicide prevention initiatives, which have been codesigned with the Traveller community. There is increased funding of €1.7 million for suicide prevention in the community and for voluntary organisations, including Pieta. Funding of €1 million has been given to implement a new suicide reduction strategy. There is €4 million to develop a new crisis response pathway for children and young people, with 19 new CAMHS specialist doctors for out-of-hours emergency liaison, as well as five new adult liaison psychiatrists. There is more but my time is up.
Sentiment score: -0.30
I certainly will go back to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on those very important points. I absolutely agree we need more beds. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is very much aware of that. It is something the Government is looking at and the Minister definitely will work on it. There is a challenge in dealing with suicide in extremely complex cases. We have seen cases where a single event is the factor that leads someone to take his or her own life. There are huge issues there. We need to get supports in place for families, individuals and communities. An action the Minister of State is working on is the new suicide reduction strategy. It is being drafted and will include information on beds and so on. Implementation of this new strategy will be developed in quarter 1 of 2026. I will convey the Deputy's concerns about the need for more beds and I thank him for highlighting it.
Sentiment score: 0.10