Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Keenan for that but that funding model does not really take full account all of the services that centres like Bushypark offer. Quite recently I saw a log of the phone calls the centre received from September until Christmas. It was absolutely inundated with calls from people, screaming out for help at home. These are people who are at the cusp of relapsing and going back to the bottle or back to the betting. It is not all about treatment episodes and people being in there for 28 day bed-stay periods. The funding model does not account for everything the centre does. Its costs have not remained static. If anything, they have increased but the funding model does not match that. This is not just about Bushypark. There is an alliance of these centres throughout the country. I believe Ms Nash actually heads up that alliance. The centres have come together as a group and argued to the Department that the current funding model does not work. While they are grateful for departmental funding, it does not account for what they need in terms of meeting their outlays each and every month. I have asked that the centres are invited to come before this committee in the coming weeks. I hope the committee can accede to that request because we really need to hear, first hand, from Ms Nash, Mr. Murphy and others in terms of how they are really put to the pin of their collar each and every month.