The Government intends to close the State's 15 remaining mental hospitals and sell off the buildings and lands to fund a major overhaul of the country's psychiatric services.
The plan is just one of several recommendations made in a report by the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy published today by the Department for Health.
The 300-page report - entitled A Vision for Change - recommends the closure of large mental hospitals and the movement of patients to modern units attached to general hospitals.
The report estimates the cost of the new units will be €797 million which can in part be funded by the re-investment of resources realised from the sale of existing assets.
In tandem with the closure of these hospitals, the report recommends the development of "community-based, patient-centred" services.
The report proposes mental health services be re-organised nationally into catchment areas for populations of between 250,000 and 400,000.
The operation of these local catchment services should be co-ordinated locally through several Mental Health Catchment Management teams and nationally by a Mental Health Service Directorate.
The new community-based services will require an additional 1,803 staff and a non-capital investment of €151 million per annum.
Minister for State at the Department of Health & Children, Tim O'Malley - who commissioned the report three years ago - said best practice internationally informs us that up to 90 per cent of people with mental illness can be best treated in the community.
"This means the vast majority of people currently in acute psychiatric hospitals need to be brought back into the community," Mr O'Malley said.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said the report heralded a move away from the traditional medical model of mental health to a more holistic approach involving patient-centred services.
Ms Harney said the report involved widespread consultation with service users, families and carers.
She said: "Good mental health is an important component of general health and it should not be seen as separate."
