Contents:
About Budget 2023
Contact your TD
Read our Pre-Budget Submission
Pre-Budget Campaign Launch
COVID-19 and Mental Health
Get Involved
1. About Budget 2023
Together with our 81 member organisations, Mental Health Reform call on the Government to invest €100 million in our mental health services for Budget 2023. This includes:
- €25M to maintain existing levels of services; and
- €75M to be used exclusively for developing our services to drive change in the system, and deal with the new challenges faced
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, waiting lists for mental health services have grown significantly due to an increase in mental health needs. These delays can have a detrimental impact on people experiencing mental health difficulties. For many years, funding for mental health has stalled between 5 and 6% of Ireland’s total health budget. This is less than half of what the recommended spend is internationally.
While the urgency of the pandemic may appear to have faded, the mental health ‘shadow pandemic’ will be felt long into the future if we do not act now.
People with mental health difficulties can’t afford to wait.
2. Contact Your TD
The Budget 2023 announcement is just weeks away and we need your help.
Please email your TDs to make sure mental health is not forgotten in Budget 2023.
It takes less than 2 minutes and can make a big difference!
Your TDs need to know that mental health is a voting issue for you. We have put together an easy to follow guide to contacting your local representative.
Click the link below to find out more!
4. Pre-Budget Campaign Launch
On the 31st of August we launched our Cost of Waiting campaign at a virtual launch. The online event brought together politicians, people with mental health difficulties, and organisations in the sector who discussed opportunities to strengthen mental health services in Budget 2023.
Speakers included:
- Róisín Clarke, Interim CEO, MHR
- Paula Lawlor, CEO, Suicide or Survive
- Hugh Morley, Head of Business, Cork Counselling Services
- Colm Burke TD, Fine Gael
- Róisín Shortall TD, Social Democrats
- Mark Ward TD, Sinn Féin
- Senator Frances Black, Independent
5. COVID-19 and Mental Health
Mental Health Reform collaborated with the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) to explore public attitudes towards the mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The C19PRC is a group of mental health researchers from Ireland and the United Kingdom who are conducting projects in both countries to understand the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a brief summary of a peer-reviewed study carried out by C19PRC researchers in Maynooth University, in collaboration with Mental Health Reform, and published in January 2022.
6. Get Involved
There are many ways you can join our campaign to help make mental health a national priority in Budget 2023.
- Contact your TD with Uplift
- Download our images below and use our sample posts for your social media page
- Re-share our social media posts
- Join the conversation with #CostOfWaiting #Budget2023
- Sign up to our newsletter for regular updates
Twitter Images
Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn Images
Sample social media post
“Mental Health Reform recently launched its Cost of Waiting campaign which calls on the Government to invest €100M in Ireland’s mental health services in #Budget2023.
Email your local TDs to ask them to invest in our mental health this #Budget2023
https://action.uplift.ie/
#CostOfWaiting #Budget2023″
