The proportion of the health budget that is spent on mental health remains ‘scandalously low', psychiatrists have insisted.

According to the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland (CPI), the budget for mental health has reduced from 13% of the entire health budget in the 1980s to 6.2% in 2015. In the UK, it is 12%.

The recommendation in the Government's own mental health strategy document, A Vision for Change, which was published back in 2006, recommended that Ireland's mental health budget should gradually build up to 8.24% of the entire health budget, ‘but the time frame foreseen for this is past', the CPI noted.

It said that aside from the human costs of mental health, the cost to the nation is now over 2% of GNP.

In its pre-budget submission, the CPI raised a number of key points for consideration by the Government, including:
-The provision of community-based mental health teams for patients of all ages on a 24/7 basis nationally. This must be a priority if the continued morbidity and mortality related to suicide, self-harm, substance abuse and chronic mental illness is to be tackled
-School and community-based counseling and psychological services for children and teenagers must be revitalised
-The recruitment and retention of trained psychiatry staff must be prioritised
-Budget actions - taxation and spending - must support activities that reduce marginalisation and substance abuse, as these are two of the biggest contributors to psychiatric morbidity, self-harm and suicide.

"This is an opportunity for Government to propose a pathway to sustainable mental health services by investment of money and implementation of policies to support the mental health needs of vulnerable individuals. This can be achieved through investment and taxation that promotes community inclusion for people with mental health problems in their recovery, in the short, medium and long term," commented Dr John Hillery on behalf of the CPI.

Budget 2016 will be announced on October 13.