The "Prime Time" programme about the loss of lives due to mental health issues would have brought a tear out of anyone's eye. Over the last 16 or 18 months during the Covid pandemic, many people have struggled with mental health. In Roscommon, the acute unit, which was once a 33-bed unit, was reduced to a 23-bed unit. Over recent years, the HSE in its great wisdom decided it would close day-care centres and, indeed, hostels in the likes of Ballaghaderreen and Athleague and, unfortunately, Renbrack house in Boyle was another recent casualty to this system it is running. There is fear that the hostel in Strokestown is going to close as well. I went back and looked at figures in 2019 and one hotel for vulnerable people - we are talking about vulnerable people here - was given €30,000 to accommodate them. The Tánaiste is well familiar with the situation in the Rosalie unit for people with Alzheimer's disease and mental issues, where a battle went on for several years.

On 8 June 2020, the Tánaiste and Paul Reid officially opened the CAMHS Connect mental health service. There was great fanfare with €2.5 million to be spent on this great idea. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that the televisions landed into those premises are worth approximately €1,200 each. It is all dolled up and ready to go, but after such a launch with all the cosmetic, which seems to be the HSE’s main work in that it wants to make it look good in theory, unfortunately, there is no money to give to this service now. Does the Tánaiste think it is disgusting that, after having launched this on 8 June last year when he said this service would be available, the vulnerable people in that county are once again left high and dry?

Does he think it is acceptable that hotels get €30,000 to provide the service while hostels owned by the State have been closed? At the moment, there is an acute unit comprising 23 beds that is full to capacity. There is no step-down facility. What is the vision of the HSE in respect of this matter? Will the Minister get involved in dealing with it? Will the Tánaiste, who launched CAMHS Connect, which no one will deny was a great idea, get involved to make sure that money is provided in respect of that service for the people of County Roscommon and the wider area, which also straddles the county borders of Mayo and Galway? Will he make sure that the closure happening in Roscommon, which is being carried out by people who would rather buy pictures for a building and not open it in order that they can look good and talk about what they did, will be stopped once and for all?

The pandemic has taken a toll on many people’s mental health for many different reasons, including isolation, loss of work, loss of income and bereavement. Thankfully, we have not seen any increase in suicide rates during the pandemic period. We worried at the start that this might happen. However, there have been increases in things like calls about domestic violence and referrals to our services. For that reason, Government has put in many additional resources for mental health across the country.

Our mental health budget for this year is €1.1 billion, which is the biggest budget for mental health ever in the State and an increase of €50 million on last year. That demonstrates the Government’s commitment to improving our mental health services. With that in mind, some of us heard Sophie White this morning on the radio talking about the mental illness that has affected her, namely, bipolar affective disorder, and how we need to improve maternity and mental health services for women during and after pregnancy. That is something we have been working on for some time. We have seen the budget for that increased and incorporated in the national maternity strategy. I pay tribute to Sophie White's bravery in speaking about her mental health issues so publicly. Listening to her reminds us that whatever progress we have made is not enough and that we have much more to do.

I am glad the Deputy referred to the Rosalie unit. I launched that project with Paul Reid, as the Deputy said, last year. It was the brainchild of my colleague and friend, the former Minister of State, Jim Daly. I am disturbed to hear that it has not been delivered or brought to fruition. That is news to me. I will follow up on the matter. Perhaps there are good reasons but it was very much part of the vision for mental health services, particularly in the west and in rural Ireland, that they would be provided in this more modern way using technology and remote services and functions. I guarantee the Deputy that I will follow up on that today and see what the problem is. The HSE has a budget of €22 billion this year, which is huge. There must be a reason other than finance for it not going ahead, but I will check up on it.

On the other services in Roscommon, I am not familiar with them and do not want to comment without knowing enough about them. I will let the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Butler, know that the Deputy raised them here and ask her to talk directly to or correspond with him.

It is good to hear that the Tánaiste is disturbed, given that he launched the service in question. I will tell him the reason. Those involved are saying that their budgets are gone. In one area, they bought pictures costing €250 each to put on the walls in order to make things look nice. Televisions have been put in. Painters are going everywhere in different places. Now, however, the HSE is saying that it has run out of money and that its budget is gone. It is good to know, and I do not doubt the Tánaiste in this regard, that, nationally, more money is being given to mental health services. However, it is not a lot of good to somebody in County Roscommon who is vulnerable and who does not have the service in question to be told that more money has been provided nationally but, tough luck, the money has run out in Roscommon.

The hostels to which I refer were step-down facilities. Unfortunately, with the 23-bed unit full to capacity, there does not appear to be a step-down facility in Roscommon to help people on their journey. I again ask the Tánaiste that the money required be put in by the HSE for the staffing of this new innovative idea the Tánaiste talked about and with which he, Jim Daly and Paul Reid were involved. Will the Tánaiste make sure that the HSE prioritises this as a matter of urgency? In the context of mental health, people in Roscommon, Galway, Mayo and throughout the west of Ireland matter as much anybody else in any other part of the country, regardless of budgets.

The Deputy has my assurance that I will make inquiries about this today. It is only May. I do not understand how the budget could be gone. The national budget for the HSE this year is €22 billion. We are going to struggle to finance it in years ahead but it has never been bigger. The budget for mental health is €1.1 billion and has never been greater. It includes plenty of provision for improvements and new developments. I will make inquiries on the matter today and get back to the Deputy as soon as I can.