Ms Katy MacAndrew:

There is definitely a plethora of services closing during the Covid pandemic. In Ballymun many of our staff were redeployed. We tried to leave core staff in the services but it was very hard. As for case management, we could not even get hold of other agencies, particularly early on, until things got sorted out, so there was an absence. It was a feeling of tumbleweed, in that everyone had gone. Clients were trying to access services. They were trying to come into recovery or trying to address their drug use. It was really difficult to take new referrals. We had clients coming into us saying they had gone to X, Y and Z but could not get a hold of people, so there was confusion. There was definitely a sense of everything closing. It was not until a little later that we were told we were essential services. That was a bit unclear at the beginning. I understand why but there is a big lesson to be learnt from this that we are essential services.