Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Every four or five weeks, I meet the groups to receive an update on the work. There is a lot of work involved. I hate setting a timeline because I may not be able to live up to it. I am confident, however, that by the end of the year I will have very significant progress made on this, irrespective of whether the telephone number will be available then. There are many challenges because existing services must be integrated and brought in under the new arrangement. One is not just going to ignore the Samaritans and all such organisations, which have done superb work. They must be brought in and an effort must be made to streamline the service. We are meeting the challenges head-on. There are some wonderful people working behind the scenes.

On waiting lists and Marian House, there is a challenge for the Department in respect of any of the organisations that are funded separately. How they do their work comprises an ongoing challenge. I will get Minister of State Deputy Finian McGrath to provide the Deputy with more detail on that, particularly on the waiting list at Marian House. I will work with the Minister of State and we will send the Deputy a response on the matter.