Mr. Edmond Connelly:

The Deputy made a good point on rural isolation. As Mr. Jagoe stated, we are being approached by organisations that are dealing with the acute aspects of rural isolation, such as mental health problems. As we keep saying to them, what we can do is what we are set up to do - that is, to get young people involved in Macra. The biggest antidote to the threat of isolation and mental health issues is to get people involved in social networks, encourage them to partake of further training and allow them to meet people outside their own immediate areas. We see it constantly - members of Macra who perhaps two years ago were very quiet blossoming within a couple of years. I welcome the Chairman's comments with regard to support from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs because I genuinely believe that volunteer-led organisations such as this can achieve so much more than attempts by the State to put acute services in place. If we can mobilise the volunteers and reach out to increasing numbers and get them involved, that would be our biggest contribution and by far the most effective way of dealing with this issue.