Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is not a reflection on Good2Talk; it is a change in the system for allocating funding that was announced to all organisations, including Good2Talk, in 2015. Many of the organisations are admittedly doing very good work but on an ad hoc basis. We need to streamline that and understand what everyone is doing. It is one of the reasons I want to see the introduction of a national phone line which co-ordinates all of these services and directs people appropriately. It is not possible to have a bottom-up service delivery system; we need a nationally co-ordinated system with localised delivery. That is what we announced in 2015 with the Connecting for Life strategies that are being rolled out in every county. Every county has its own specific means and demands on it. From here on in funding will be allocated on a countywide perspective and not on a nationwide perspective. This was communicated in 2015 to Good2Talk in 2015, as it was to all other organisations.

Good2Talk has made an application for national lottery funding.

It also takes contributions towards the delivery of the service and organises many charitable collections. That is the way matters will remain until the local Connecting for Life strategy is rolled out countrywide and then decisions on funding will be made by it. I suggest that the Deputy take this matter up with the people involved with the strategy. It is a local issue. It is not a matter for my Department and neither the Department nor I will be making a decision on the allocation of funding.

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