OVER 300 students from all over Ireland turned up outside Leinster House yesterday to protest over the Government decision to remove €12 million from the 2016 mental health budget.
On a miserable, rainy day on Kildare Street, hordes of students gathered to express their anger at the announcement that this year’s mental health budget for recruitment will be slashed from €35 million to €23 million.
Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, confirmed in a Dail speech that €12 million of the ring-fenced €35 million budget would now instead be spent on home-help and other areas.
In his statement to the Dail, Minister Varadkar referenced unexpected delays in recruitment as the rationale for the cuts but promised that the full level of funding would be restored in next year’s budget.
However, the protestors outside Leinster House were in no mood for explanations.
“I think it’s outrageous the cuts that are being made to mental health,” said Trinity student Jessica Chambers.
“€12 million is too much to sacrifice for such an important issue. I think it’s an area that isn’t represented enough and I think there’s not enough coverage of it.
“It happens to everyone, one in four Trinity students have used student counselling services this year alone.”
The protest was organised by the Union of Students in Ireland and Mental Health Reform on short notice, and it attracted a significant amount of interest from the general public as well as several TD’s from Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, former Cork hurler Conor Cusack and Sligo illusionist Shane Gillen.
Both of the celebrities gave poignant, heartfelt addresses to the protestors.
However, the biggest message came from the crowd itself, with repeated chants of “no ifs, no buts, no mental health cuts” ringing out in front of Leinster House.
Demonstrators held signs with ‘Cén praghas ar saol’ (no price on life) and ‘Is Cúis Mé’ (I am a reason) as well as ‘Cuts Cost Lives’ and ‘Mental Health Can’t Wait’ as they stood in the rain for hours making their voices heard.
Protesters also called for the Dail to hold meaningful, sincere talks on mental health and to restore the original €35 million allocated for recruitment for mental health facilities.
“Everyone knows several people who suffer from mental health issues,” said Business, Economics and Politics student Dan O’Byrne.
“I think even though it has got a bit more funding this year, proportionately it still gets nowhere near enough.”
Jack O’Toole
