Last week, it was confirmed that funds would be redirected away from the mental health budget.
Today, the government sat in the Dáil to discuss the implications of this move for the country. Only they didn't.
Pictures screengrabbed from Oireachtas TV show an extremely poorly attended gathering of the Dáil, made all the worse by the amount of time Ireland's two main parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, have spent of trying to work out how they can both be in government together.
JOE put a call into the office of Minister for Health Leo Varadkar to confirm that he had taken part in today's discussion.
While he was in the chamber initially, a spokesperson for the Minister confirmed he had to leave to enter talks on the formation of a new government.
"(The Minister) was in the Chamber and was the first speaker," the spokesperson confirmed.
"He was present for a number of speakers but was asked to join the Government negotiations which are currently underway and therefore had to leave the Chamber. He is due to leave those negotiations to rejoin the debate shortly.
"It's very unfortunate that the debate coincided with the negotiations on Government-formation but the timing of this debate was determined between the party whips."
Tweets from Niall 'Bressie' Breslin, a leading voice on mental health in Ireland, encouraged voters to contact their TDs and ask them if they were present during today's discussion on mental health.
https://twitter.com/nbrez/status/724984645624934400
https://twitter.com/dm_waugh/status/724978024060432384
Fine Gael TD, Noel Rock, who was in attendance had this to say about the turnout:
https://twitter.com/NoelRock/status/724983388600414209
