The estimate for mental health expenditure in 2004 is €661.35 million or 6.7% of the total health budget while in 2002 expenditure on mental health was 6.9% of the total health expenditure. When evaluating these figures, it must be borne in mind that in-patient care has always been the most expensive element of the mental health service and with the consistent reduction in psychiatric bed numbers and the ongoing transfer of intellectually disabled and elderly patients to other settings, it is to be expected that expenditure relative to other services would fall.
Since 1997, approximately €90 million additional revenue funding has been invested in the mental health services. In the main, this funding is being used to provide additional medical and health professional staff for expanding community mental health services, to increase child and adolescent services, to expand the later-life psychiatric services, to provide liaison psychiatric services in general hospitals and to enhance the support provided to voluntary agencies.
Substantial progress has been made in recent years in ensuring that those in need of mental health services receive care and treatment in the most appropriate setting. I am committed to the provision of quality care in the area of mental health and I will be endeavouring to secure additional funding for this sector in the coming years. The further development of our mental health services will be considered in the context of the estimates process for 2005 and subsequent years.