The Union of Students in Ireland has welcomed the restoration of €12m in funding for mental health services.

The cabinet approved an extra €500m in the health budget for this year.

The Health Minister Simon Harris, says the money will be used for more home-help hours, to restore the mental health budget and to deal with overcrowding in emergency departments this winter.

President of USI, Kevin Donoghue has said it is a very positive decision by the Government: “It’s something that we were quite shocked and a little bit angry about when the decision was initially made a number of weeks ago.

“We very much welcome the decision by the Minister for Health and the Minister of State for Mental Health, to reverse that decision and to put that €12m back where it belongs which is helping people who are most vulnerable in our society.”