Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome our guests. The Samaritans is a long-established organisation held in high regard that has provided supports to many thousands of people in this country for many decades. I come from Clare and I know where the office of the Samaritans is in the county. The organisation has a strong presence in Ennis. The feedback on the work done by the Samaritans, from the volunteers working within the organisation and people who use the service, is strong.

I would like some more data concerning the number of calls the organisation receives. How many calls are repeat calls or is there any way of establishing that statistic? In addition, are there any statistics on the age profile of callers or their nationalities? The new Irish are a major part of our population now. Are they struggling more than others? I ask that question because they may have only arrived in Ireland recently, been away from their families during a pandemic and been unable to travel home on holidays or to visit their loved ones since. How much data does the organisation have in this regard?