Mental Health Reform today acknowledged receipt of a letter from Minister of Health Simon Harris and Minister of State Jim Daly committing to the full €105M of development funding to implement A Vision for Change between 2018 and 2019.
Responding to the letter, Director of Mental Health Reform Shari McDaid said, “We welcome that the Ministers’ letter commits to an additional €15M in development funding to implement A Vision for Change between now and 2019 which is an improvement on what was announced in the Budget on Tuesday. While we would have preferred the funding to be frontloaded to 2018, we appreciate that the Ministers have instructed the Department of Health to release next year’s funding at the start of the year in order that there would be no delay in implementation of these vital new initiatives.”
“In the context of the review of A Vision for Change there is a need to review the overall adequacy of funding for mental health to deliver the mental health services needed in Ireland. Services are over-stretched and coping with increased demand. Many people who need specialist mental health care, including children and adolescents, pregnant women, people with an intellectual disability, people who are homeless, and people who also struggle with addiction, cannot get their needs met due to a shortage of appropriate support. We hope that the review of A Vision for Change will take a thorough look at the resources required to fulfil everyone’s right to the highest attainable standard of mental health and provide a framework for resource planning in the coming years,” concluded Dr. McDaid.
