In contrast, private services offer faster access and in some cases a wider range of treatment options but it can be \u201cprohibitively expensive\u201d for people.<\/p>\n
The warning comes in the pre-Budget submission of Mental Health Reform, a coalition of charities representing service users, families and community groups,.<\/p>\n
It is calling on the Government to \u201cPay the Bill\u201d for mental health services in next month\u2019s Budget and saying and additional \u20ac200m investment is needed, made up of \u20ac120m to develop new services to address unmet needs, and an \u20ac80m top-up on existing funding to maintain current service levels.<\/p>\n
It points out that if Ireland is to meet a long-standing target of 10pc of the health budget being allocated to mental health by 2030, as set out in Sl\u00e1intecare, then there needs to be a real change of gear.<\/p>\n
It sets out priorities for delivery including the national rollout of Crisis Resolution Teams; a new recruitment drive to address Camhs staffing shortages; the establishment of specialised services such as a National Mother and Baby Unit and Early Intervention in Psychosis programmes; mental health supports for minority groups including the homeless and Travellers; and funding for a national independent advocacy service.<\/p>\n
Dr Louise Rooney, Policy and Research Manager at Mental Health Reform, said that under 6pc of the total health budget is allocated to mental health.<\/p>\n
The European Union revealed that Ireland was the most difficult country in which to access mental health services<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a target of 10pc by 2030, we really need to see a step-change in the mental health budget allocation, starting with a minimum of a 6.5pc commitment this year, and rising consistently in the coming years,\u201d Ms Rooney said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2023, the European Union revealed that Ireland was the most difficult country in Europe in which to access mental health services. In fact, last year we spent approximately \u20ac93m on outsourcing mental health care, made up of \u20ac13m for the Treatment Abroad Scheme, and \u20ac79.66m for private mental health services \u2013 funds that could instead be redirected to build our own public and voluntary service capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too long, too many people have been unable to access timely mental health care due to staff shortages, long waits, and under-resourced services. Chronic underinvestment has left the system overstretched and underfunded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the Mental Health Bill currently going before the Seanad, and as our legislators take a keen look at how we support some of the most vulnerable in our society, never has there been a more opportune time to demonstrate our collective desire for timely, equitable and effective care, with a commitment to sustained investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cBudget 2026 is a chance to finally settle the longstanding debt to mental health and to \u2018Pay the Bill\u2019 that\u2019s been long overdue,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In contrast, private services offer faster access and in some cases a wider range of treatment options but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5244,4593,2244,103,61,60,410,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-30016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-budget-2026","9":"tag-eilish-oregan","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-mental-health","15":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}