As many Members will know, I have been the mental health spokesperson for the Ulster Unionist Party since 2016. I also sit on a number of all-party groups (APGs) and act as secretary for the all-party group on mental health. The APG is fortunate to work with the support of local mental health charity, MindWise. The APG has been hearing evidence over the past year from a wide range of experts on the subject of mental health and early Intervention. In essence, it is about how we can intervene at as early a stage as possible to ensure better mental health outcomes for our young people and children.

MindWise is asking elected representatives in a humorous and Northern Irish colloquial way to wise up — I have wanted to say that to a lot of you for a long time — but, in reality, it is not a laughing matter. MindWise is asking politicians and legislators — us in the Chamber — to wise up and support children and young people's mental health services. Young people in Northern Ireland today are grappling with significant mental health problems. Our community has long struggled with the stark reality that less than 8% of the overall budget for mental health provision is allocated to children and young people's mental health services. That has resulted in limited access to essential mental health support. MindWise recently launched a petition, available on its website, that urges all MLAs to advocate and champion the cause of our children and young people by pushing for and delivering an increase in funding for children and young people's mental health.

As we all know, the Minister of Health, Robin Swann, has never shied away from his desire to see additional investment across local mental health services. The previous mental health support fund that he established was transformational for the many dozens of groups that it helped. Now, while parts of the mental health strategy are starting to make a really positive change, the resources that have been made available to the Department ultimately still fall short of the £1·2 billion funding plan that all Executive parties committed to in order to deliver the strategy over 10 years.

Children and young people are among those who would benefit most from the strategy's being delivered through the necessary collective Executive effort, so, as the Minister of Finance and her Executive colleagues consider, in the weeks ahead, the allocation of funding for this year, I appeal to them to invest in the area where it can make the most difference and that sufficient allocation should go to the Department of Health, primarily for our young people, given the importance of transforming their mental health. I urge all Members to share the petition from MindWise and to support its fantastic work in providing support services for all those who live with mental health conditions and their carers.