Ms Alison Cotter:

I will not speak to the specific services of other organisations but I will link in separately with the Senator on what we may be able to recommend for that woman. I can speak to our services regarding the peer support element. Peer support for voluntary organisations comes into all of the services we provide. Regarding MS, as part of our national MS respite centre, it is not a peer support service but there are peer support elements. It is about people being around other people who understand their condition and what they are going through and supporting them in that way. Particularly with our physiotherapy programme, we group people by condition and disease progression, so there is peer support. People have people in the room who understand what it is like to be going through this condition and they can help each other, not only the physical, such as maintaining the gains they made in a CNRT, but also mental health. It is being looked at in a meaningful way regarding its impact in organisations across the NAI.