Dr. Joseph Duffy:

Historically, it occurred in different ways. In the very beginning, approximately 14 years ago, it was through consultations with local communities, particularly where there was a high degree of mental health concerns, particularly in respect of suicide, and that was when we were funded from a more philanthropic base. We have worked closely with the Department of Health and, in particular, the HSE in recent years in looking at the spread of services throughout the country and at where we would best be able to use the resources.

The difficulty is that we know there is a need for support in many different places. What we are now looking at is how we can expand and develop existing Jigsaw services. For example, the service in Offaly has expanded into Laois and we are looking to see if we can develop further services. What we are looking at right now, especially as a result of Covid, is the idea that national coverage would mean both online and offline support. What we have moved into is providing phone support and online support, which can provide a greater level of support for more people. The issue overall is how we get a balance between face-to-face and online support, and it is really about looking at resources.

One of the bigger issues is that we do not have three or five years of planned funding and we are always looking at it on a year-to-year basis. If we had that plan of structured funding, we would be able to work with communities and really support them to see where Jigsaw fits within a system of care. At times in the past, people have wanted us to develop a Jigsaw service and we have been very careful and clear that we are providing a service on the prevention and early intervention side. The reality is there needs to be a lot of other supports in communities for all of us to work successfully together.