Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Rural crime is outside of my remit but in terms of helping people to feel connected and recognised, the Community Call initiative run by the Department is worth mentioning. This initiative sought to link local and national Government with the community and voluntary sectors. Its purpose was to co-ordinate community activity, direct community assistance and organise and deploy volunteers. It is hoped that people will not feel so alone as volunteers call to their homes more often because of the Community Call initiative. Each local authority set up a helpline and supporting database management system and created new Community Call forums, which co-ordinated the work of the local voluntary and community organisations delivering services to cocooners in particular. The immediate focus was on the elderly and most vulnerable, and on mobilising a rapid response in every county to make sure everyone was looked after. The focus then expanded to the well-being of our society and how communities could work together to help the country through the Covid-19 crisis. This will continue over the coming months. Since March, the 31 Community Call forums have answered approximately 54,000 calls, made approximately 21,000 follow-up calls to citizens and held over 460 meetings. Calls to dedicated helplines have related to the delivery of essential items, health services and social isolation.

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