Þórhildur Sunna raises concerns about psychological services accessibility in Iceland

During a session at Alþingi, Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir, a Member of Parliament from the Pirate Party, raised concerns about the accessibility of psychological services in Iceland. She questioned Finance Minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson regarding the potential for government subsidies for psychology services before the next parliamentary elections.

Þórhildur Sunna pointed out that despite legislation enacted in 2020 designed to improve access to psychologists through the national health insurance, mental health issues have reportedly increased. She cited rising incidents of violence in society and noted that the government plans to allocate 180 million ISK per year over the next two years to address these issues, along with about 100 million ISK to enhance mental health services in healthcare facilities.

However, she expressed frustration at the lack of sufficient funding to fully subsidize psychological services, which she argued could significantly benefit national mental health, especially for youth. In response, Minister Sigurður Ingi acknowledged ongoing discussions with the national health insurance agency regarding these services but emphasized that a shortage of psychologists is a major hurdle to implementing these plans.

Þórhildur Sunna criticized the government’s past actions, referencing previous Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson’s remarks about the necessity of additional funding and expressing concern that there appears to be insufficient commitment from the current administration to improve the financing of psychological services. She expressed a strong desire for more substantial actions to support mental health services in Iceland.