The Government must make the connection between increased public spending on mental healthcare and individual and societal gains, according to the Mental Health Commission (MHC).

The MHC in a new report, points out that while per capita expenditure in Ireland on mental health has increased in recent decades, spending as a proportion of GNP remains low here in comparison with other developed countries in Europe.

The share of total public health expenditure spent on mental health services has fallen in the past 20 years from just under 14% in 1984 to 7.76% in 2007.

The report says a target of 10% for mental health expenditure as a proportion of overall expenditure should be set over a five year period.

The report points out that the estimated cost to the economy of mental health problems in 2006 was over €3 billion, which is around 2% of GNP.

The MHC says the results from a survey carried out in conjunction with the report demonstrated that people would be willing to make significant tax contributions to new community-based services for people with mental heath problems.

It says this counteracts the view sometimes expressed that people do not care at all about mental healthcare provision.

However, the survey also showed that people tend to value spending on cancer and ageing programmes more than they do mental healthcare.

The MHC says one of the main reasons for this is that many people have little knowledge about mental health problems, leading them to underestimate the negative consequences arising from such problems.

The report points out that the economic costs of mental health problems include lost employment, absenteeism, lost productivity and premature retirement.

This is in addition to significant human and social costs including pain, suffering, stigma and reduced quality of life.

Read more of the report at...http://www.mhcirl.ie