Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 May 2026
554. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to clarify which Department, agency or statutory body has responsibility for the provision of funding to community-based counselling and psychotherapy charities delivering low-cost mental health supports to the public; and if she will outline the recognised pathway by which such organisations may secure recurring State funding. [33868/26]
View answer555. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether funding is currently available under the national mental health strategy for community-led early intervention counselling and psychotherapy services; and if she will provide details of the relevant budget lines, grant schemes or commissioning arrangements which support prevention and early intervention mental health services outside of HSE directly delivered services. [33869/26]
View answer556. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has considered the establishment of a dedicated national funding scheme to support community-based counselling and psychotherapy charities; and if she will provide an update on any work underway in this regard. [33870/26]
View answer558. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what funding streams or supports are currently available to registered charities providing counselling and psychotherapy services to children and adolescents; and if she will outline what measures are in place to expand community-led early intervention mental health supports for young people. [33872/26]
View answer559. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE provides funding, service level agreements or commissioning arrangements to community-based charities providing counselling and psychotherapy supports; and if she will outline the process by which a registered charity may apply to become eligible for HSE-funded service delivery. [33873/26]
View answer560. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department or the HSE provides multi-annual or core operational funding to support the sustainability of community-based charities delivering counselling and mental health supports; and if she will provide details of any such funding mechanisms currently in place. [33874/26]
View answer562. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to confirm whether any dedicated funding stream currently exists to support community-based counselling and psychotherapy charities delivering low-cost services outside of the HSE; and if no such funding stream exists, to outline what funding routes are currently available to such organisations. [33876/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 554, 555, 556, 558, 559, 560 and 562 together.
As you may be aware, the Department of Health does not have a mechanism to directly fund community voluntary organisations that provide a social community service, with relevant funding come through the HSE via the section 39 provisions of the Health Act 2004.
HSE Mental Health Services funds many community voluntary organisations for the provision of services, including counselling and psychotherapy amongst other services and activites which support mental health.
Organisations may apply for section 39 funding to provide mental health services to or on behalf of the HSE at both local and national level, under a variety of supply arrangements. Under Section 39, the HSE may support any person or body that provides or proposes to provide a service similar or ancillary to a service that the HSE may provide.
All local community organisations seeking funding through the Section 39 scheme administered by local HSE Mental Health Services, must fulfil specific requirements for any potential funding application to be considered.
In any negotiations between HSE and any charity or organisation, information such as audited accounts, annual reports, governance arrangements and board of management details are required, so that HSE can undertake due diligence as part of consideration of any potential funding arrangements. For example, annual financial statements, and information on corporate and clinical governance would be required to be submitted before the HSE could consider any funding application.
The HSE are ready and available to provide guidance on work that any organisation may need to undertake to comply with the requirements of section 39 funding.
As Minister for Mental Health, I work each year to increase the amount of funding for counselling, suicide prevention, and other mental health services in our communities. Under Budget 2026, I allocated an additional €1m for community based therapy provision, further to the €2m from Budget 2025 to provide access to a suite of new talk therapies and counselling supports specifically tailored for men. Access to the services began from September 2025 and to date over 500 men have been supported.
The HSE have recently established a therapeutic interventions service improvement programme board (TISIP). The programme board will provide consolidated leadership and governance for therapeutic interventions across the whole health system, with the aim of increasing capacity, and facilitating access to, high quality integrated supports and services for all who require them.
Specifically, the TISIP will provide
* The means to align efforts towards universally accessible talk therapies
* Greater consistency of approach and standards in service provision
* Stronger oversight and leadership
* Delivery models that are better integrated and coordinated from the outset, and can remove obstacles associated with levels of care if required and clinically appropriate
* Potential to further assess and develop partnership and multi-agency working, and shared-care arrangements
* A programme board to consider and review proposals for further investment in this area.
Future additional investment in counselling provision will be guided by a mapping of current services provided directly by the HSE or through organisations funded by HSE Mental Health and HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention. This investment will target identified gaps in service provision and take account of priority groups across the population.
It remains the case that prior to any funding arrangement, the HSE will need full and complete details on the corporate governance of an organisation, such as information on the board responsible for independent oversight of the management of an organisation; and on what clinical governance structures are in place. This is particularly important for any organisation which would potentially be providing talk therapies to vulnerable people on behalf of the HSE and as a recipient of public funding.
In addition, organisations can apply to HSE Mental Health Services for national lottery grant funding through the relevant local Community Health Organisation.
The Department of Disability, Children and Equality are also responsible for the funding of some community based counselling and therapy provision via Tusla, with a focus on youth and family supports.
Finally, Pobal also administers a number of funds on behalf of other Departments. Details of these can be found at: www.pobal.ie.
