Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to add my voice to that. This does not make sense. Galway's youth counselling service is excellent, with 800 adolescents having come through its door since 2012, 191 of those in 2016. It provides a service to Tuam, Ballinasloe, Loughrea and Galway city. It has struggled, but it has provided an excellent service. It is unique because that young adult age group can walk in the door, so most of the referrals are from families, schools, to a lesser extent from the health service, the gardaí and so on. It provides a unique venue in that young people are going in for other services and can avail of this specialist service. They are simply asking for a stable source of funding to enable this work to continue. It is cost effective on every level and I ask the Minister of State to take a hands-on approach to its imminent closure and prevent it.

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