The Government does not take mental health issues seriously, according to the president of the Union of Students in Ireland.

€12m that was ring-fenced for mental health spending was diverted elsewhere within the Department of Health.

The USI say that any plan for mental health services will not work if it is not properly funded.

Kevin Donoghue, President of the USI, says it shows that a Fine Gael government cannot be trusted on mental health issues.

He said: “More than anything else, they’ve made clear that the Government doesn’t take mental health issues seriously, because on one hand they say they need it for somewhere else, and that’s fine, but mental health services across the board are savagely under-funded.

“And then I think it makes the wording ‘ring-fenced funding’ now meaningless, that’s across the board. It doesn’t matter what sector, what budget or what it is they are talking about.”