SF brands mental health care "a national disgrace"

Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Mental Health, Sorca Clarke TD, has received figures in response to a Parliamentary Question which show that €93 million is being spent annually on outsourcing mental health care, €13 million of which is going to the Treatment Abroad Scheme.

“If the State can find €13 million to fund care abroad, then it can, and it must, find the political will to invest that money into our own system" said Teachta Clarke "sending people abroad is not a solution, no one should have to leave their country to access essential healthcare."

Deputy Clarke said the level of outsourcing shows that the Irish mental healthcare system is now "so broken and under resourced" that the State would rather pay to send patients overseas than fix the system at home.

“It is inhumane. People experiencing mental health crises are being asked to uproot themselves and travel to unfamiliar countries for the help they should receive in their own communities" she said, branding it as a "a national disgrace."

The Sinn Féin deputy added that mental health professionals and advocacy groups have been warning for years that something needs to change, and said her party has been repeatedly highlighting the need to end this dependency on outsourcing and to build capacity in mental health centres and hospitals right across the State.