Mental health underspend in Galway
Deputy Connolly raised a possible €12 million underspend in mental health funding and linked it to delayed discharges and vacancies in Galway. The Minister of State said he did not expect a problem, asked for the details, and explained that any underspend was being assessed within a €1 billion budget.
There are four and a half pages in clár oibre don Rialtas in respect of mental health and a full commitment to the operation and implementation of A Vision for Change. We have now been informed of an underspend of at least €12 million, which is to go back into the general coffers. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm that this will not happen. The commitment in A Vision for Change is full operation and recognises geographic accessibility. There are at least four delayed discharges from the department of psychiatry of a Galway hospital because of a lack of funding. There are a number of vacancies and a door in a brand new unit cannot be repaired. I ask the Taoiseach to tell the Dáil that he does not intend to allow €12 million to be returned to the general coffers of the HSE and that it will be kept for mental health spending in the areas that need it.
Comment on this
There should not be any issue. I would be concerned if there were an issue. If the Deputy is telling me that a minor issue is being held up because of funding in the Department in Galway, I would like to hear the details of that. If the Deputy sends me the details after this debate, I will have the matter checked out for her. As she knows, there has been a significant increase in mental health funding since 2012. It has improved drastically. There is an issue with whether all of the €12 million under a particular subhead will be spent by the end of the year. We have a budget of €1 billion. In other words, we will spend €1,000 million on mental health this year. If the Deputy sends me the details of the issue, I will be quite happy to check it out for her.
Comment on this
The question was about the underspend.