Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

A huge thanks goes to the six organisations for being here today. I have three questions. I will put them out and then witnesses can decide how to respond. With regard to family supports, it is about the network services that are there. Obviously, it is hugely important that funding and recognition of the work the witnesses should increase. I am interested to hear the witnesses’ perspective as to how family support services should develop into the future and the extent to which they should be a stand-alone service or whether they should be integrated into harm reduction services or the family resource centres. I do not have a view in that regard but my concern is that someone somewhere will make a decision, someone in the Department of Health, for example, about the work the witnesses do and where it is best placed. I would like to hear the witnesses’ responses about where that work should sit in the system of services. Is í sin ceist uimhir a haon.

My second question is particularly directed to Mr. Andy O’Hara and the work in Uisce. The lads in Uisce did a fabulous job with the Sean O’Casey festival when I saw them two weeks ago. In the context of the stigma and all the other issues, I wish to hear a little bit about the GP services, the access piece and registration. I also wish to hear about the opioid stabilisation programme. We know that not every GP signed up.

With regard to the women attending Coolmine Therapeutic Community, the residential mother and child service, are they coming from homelessness? Are they lone parents? Who are they? That is in order for me to better understand because we need to make the case that it needs to be around the country. I have only left three minutes and 20 seconds for the responses. If I could hear back on those points, that would be great.