Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I do not agree that people are unable to access services. A large number of voluntary groups, principally the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, work in this area. We work with those groups. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to persuade individuals to work with the services. It is part of our role to ensure that people can get into a secure environment where we can work with them and examine the range of services available to ensure they have capacity within themselves whether in terms of better health care, more education, or facilitation in getting back into the work force in order to try to earn an income, which would give them the sense of independence and well-being they need. I do not accept there is a difficulty there.

See this speech in context