Ms Fiona Coyle:

I can answer the Senator's questions. On the €20 million for the existing levels of service, as the Senator can appreciate, costs rise year on year. For example, the cost of running a service today will increase next year due to staffing costs increasing or basic costs like rent or electricity. That is the minimum that is required to run the exact same level of services that we are providing today, next year. What has happened in the past is that perhaps not enough money has been ring-fenced to provide for existing levels of service and new development money has been used to fill that gap. The new development money is important for putting in place new services.

The Senator made a good point in relation to the services being provided in rural areas. I am from Gortahork in north-west County Donegal, a very rural and isolated area. Therefore, I can very much appreciate how difficult it is to ensure that services are in place across the country. As many members will be aware, currently our services operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A mental health crisis does not happen between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. It can happen at any time, and in particular, perhaps during the night-time hours. In our submission, we are asking for investment to be put into rolling out 24-7 services across the country.