Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 November 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism

Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Michael Hegarty:

There is one directly funded post, so that is approximately €50,000 direct to Liskennett for the equine therapy centre and, as I think Deputy Ó'Murchú said, volunteerism only lasts for so long. The cost of running it is about €200,000 per year, because we have four staff working there. We are funnelling some through, and we have one directly supported. If we were to put the volunteers and their number of hours in there too, it is most likely around the €600,000 mark if we were to value the volunteerism we have in north Cork and south Limerick.