Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Mr. Williams on that. I will table the questions that he has asked as parliamentary questions and I will get them answered and send them to the witnesses.

The witnesses have made some very good points. Mr. Williams's opening statement mentioned that recovery is different for everybody. It is not a straight line. People are up and down and can be anywhere on the road to recovery. As Ms Murphy said it is about where people are at a particular stage in their life and their recovery. Unfortunately, as the witnesses know, the reason they have to be creative is because the funding models do not work in this way. They go in straight lines. I remember when I worked in addiction services the new kid on the block was the logic model. Do the witnesses remember the logic model? We had to fill out forms and if they were not filled out correctly we did not get the funding. It was bizarre. We had to close the service for two days just to fill out the form. We could not see any of the service users whom we needed to see.

I hear what the witnesses are saying about multiannual funding. It is paramount to allow the services to be able to have strategic plans and be able to forward plan and adapt to the changing needs in their communities. They see the changing needs before we see them in here. There is also the issue of parity of pay and resources between the statutory and community sectors. I absolutely agree that this needs to be addressed. I may come back in later in the meeting. I thank the witnesses for this interaction.