Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Browne for his point. We are in agreement on this issue. We need to see a greater roll-out of these services. However, I would point out that the data are encouraging in terms of the number of people now being seen. Taking the example of counselling in primary care from 2015 to 2017, in 2015, 17,002 people were referred to the service, which increased to 18,471 in 2016 and increased further to 19,279 in 2017. We have also seen an increase in the number of people opting in to the service from 9,835 in 2015 to 11,454 in 2016 and 11,810 in 2017. We expect the total number of both children and adults in that service to be 20,528 in 2018, up from 19,279 the previous year. We expect the number of people opting in to the service to increase to 13,008, up from 11,810 in 2017.

See this speech in context