On Tuesday, 15 November, on the question, "That the amendment be made", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 70(2), that division must be taken now.
Mental Health Services Funding: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy James Browne on Tuesday, 15 November 2016:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes:
- the commitment in Appendix 1 of the Confidence and Supply Arrangement for a Fine Gael-led Government to fully implement A Vision for Change in the area of mental health; and
- that the Confidence and Supply Arrangement votes are dependent on the full implementation of the policy principles attached to this document;
further notes that:
- the July 2016 Estimate from the Department of Health indicated that the required resources needed to fully implement A Vision For Change are €177.3 million or €35.4 million per annum over five years;
- in 2017 the funding committed for new developments is just €15 million;
- such an increase would represent only a 1.8 per cent investment in new developments for mental health compared to the 2016 Budget; and
- even including the €9.7 million announced for increased pay rates in mental health services, this represents an increase of just 3 per cent in revenue funding for mental health, much less than the 7.4 per cent increase in revenue spending for the health budget as a whole; and
calls for:
- an urgent review of the Government’s decision to allow just 1.8 percent in additional spending in 2017 for mental health care improvements;
- a multi-annual plan to be published within three months outlining how the commitment in Appendix 1 of the Confidence and Supply Arrangement for a Fine Gael-led Government to fully implement A Vision for Change will be realised;
- any such plan to include a provision that all and any monies allocated to mental health, and that go unspent within a financial year, be carried over to the following year and not be returned to the exchequer and/or expended elsewhere; and
- any successor strategy arising out of a review of A Vision for Change to incorporate this multi-annual plan.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:
“notes:
— the commitment by Fine Gael in its post-election agreement with Fianna Fáil to increase funding annually for mental health services and fully implement A Vision for Change;
— that the July 2016 estimate from the Department of Health indicated that the required resources needed to fully implement A Vision For Change are €177.3 million or €35.4 million per annum over five years;
— the recommendation of the Oireachtas Group on Mental Health that an increase of €37.5 million should be made in spending for the service in 2017;
— that in 2017 the funding committed for new developments is just €15 million;
— that such an increase would represent only a 1.8 per cent investment in new developments for mental health compared to the 2016 Budget; and
— that even including the €9.7 million announced for increased pay rates in mental health services, this represents an increase of just 3 per cent in revenue funding for mental health, much less than the 7.4 per cent increase in revenue spending for the health budget as a whole;
commits once more to the complete implementation of A Vision for Change as soon as possible;
resolves to:
— increase the mental health budget for 2017 by a minimum of €37.5 million; and
— ring-fence all and any monies allocated to mental health, and that go unspent within a financial year, for use the following year and for such monies not to be returned to the exchequer and/or expended elsewhere; and demand that a multi-annual plan be published by Government, within three months, outlining how the full implementation of A Vision for Change will be realised including provision for required future funding increases.”
- (Deputy Pat Buckley)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 47; Staon, 0; Níl, 88.
Tá
- Adams, Gerry.
- Barry, Mick.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Broughan, Thomas P.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Burton, Joan.
- Collins, Joan.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Clare.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Ferris, Martin.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Nolan, Carol.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- O'Brien, Jonathan.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Sullivan, Jan.
- O'Sullivan, Maureen.
- Penrose, Willie.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Wallace, Mick.
Níl
- Aylward, Bobby.
- Bailey, Maria.
- Barrett, Seán.
- Brassil, John.
- Breathnach, Declan.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Catherine.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carey, Joe.
- Casey, Pat.
- Cassells, Shane.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Chambers, Lisa.
- Collins, Michael.
- Collins, Niall.
- Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Creed, Michael.
- Curran, John.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Daly, Jim.
- Deasy, John.
- Deering, Pat.
- Doherty, Regina.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Doyle, Andrew.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Gallagher, Pat The Cope.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harris, Simon.
- Harty, Michael.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Kelleher, Billy.
- Kenny, Enda.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- MacSharry, Marc.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Finian.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McGuinness, John.
- McLoughlin, Tony.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Murphy O'Mahony, Margaret.
- Murphy, Dara.
- Murphy, Eoghan.
- Murphy, Eugene.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Tom.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connell, Kate.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Keeffe, Kevin.
- O'Loughlin, Fiona.
- O'Rourke, Frank.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Rock, Noel.
- Ross, Shane.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Troy, Robert.
- Varadkar, Leo.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Pat Buckley; Níl, Deputies James Browne and Billy Kelleher.
Amendment declared lost.
Motion put and declared carried.