Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
1130. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the complete budget breakdown of the 2026 mental health allocation, including funding by programme area; funding by CHO; funding for community versus inpatient care; funding for each National Clinical Programme; and to publish this in a single accessible document. [72453/25]
View answerThe total allocation for mental health services in 2026 is almost €1.6 billion, which is the sixth year in a row in which the mental health budget has been increased.
This increase in funding for mental health services represents a significant investment which will enable continued policy implementation and service improvement in line with our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, and our national suicide and self-harm reduction strategy Connecting for Life, across a broad continuum from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention, through to specialist mental health services. This year’s budget provided the opportunity to focus on investing in crisis support and suicide prevention; youth mental health and CAMHS, and expanding the National Clinical Programmes.
As occurs each year following the Budget, discussions are ongoing with the HSE on details relating to specific service initiatives in the context of implementing the HSE Service Plan 2026, including that for Mental Health. The HSE National Service Plan 2026 is now published on their website. The HSE will operationalise the various service initiatives in 2026 through the national offices for mental health and the new regional health areas.
