Ms Colette Kelleher:

It is about putting it on a firm footing. That means a shift in funding from being spent on places like jails and prisons and towards the health response. It is about us being seen as being an equal footing to, for example, cardiac services and maternity services, and everybody would say we need more than we have in those areas as well, so that we are not a Cinderella and we are on an equal footing. That should be the message from the subcommittee to the system, as it were. That would be a strong message.

Whether it is funding the kind of work that the FASN does in the north east or, for example, for us to be able to pay our energy bills, for the people who are coming to us, it is crucial that the HSE is given enough means to be able to deliver that policy to the extent it wants to. It would have a benefit for the health system as well. Nobody wants people who are addicted in the emergency department on a Saturday night. It is not the right place for them. Nobody wants people to be constantly coming back into hospital because of drug- and alcohol-related issues. It would be a win-win for the health system. It is to really put addiction supports, which include mental health supports, on a firm and equal footing with other types of health supports and interventions. The FASN will keep going and we will keep going in Cork. That parity of esteem really is very important.