Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Before coming here, I met with representatives of the Samaritans in Buswells Hotel. I met with John and Eddie from the Waterford branch. They told me the only person who receives a payment of any kind in that branch is the person who comes in to clean once a week. It is an outstanding voluntary organisation. If people have a need to pick up the phone, somebody will be at the far end of the line 24-7 to pick up and talk to them. You will have a fully trained volunteer on the end of the line. There will be no judgment or pressure. You are advised to let it all out and you are in charge of your own call.

The representatives I met did not have a specific ask and I told them that is something they had to come back with, more usefully, but they did say that many of the phone calls they get now relate to loneliness. That has been very much exacerbated by the multiple lockdowns we had to deal with the pandemic. Are we doing enough to tackle the scourge of loneliness across our society?

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