Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is in the Chamber and she may want to take this question. I raise the important and sensitive issue of the closure of the Letterkenny-based child and adolescent counselling service. It is the only one in our county and it is a vital amenity that provides services right across the county, not just in Letterkenny but elsewhere. Some 120 clients avail of counselling services at any time, with hundreds on the waiting list. It has been delivering a service across the county since 2010 and has huge support. It is where many of the families of the Creeslough tragedy turned, those who were victims themselves and families of the victims. I spoke to one mother who lost her beautiful daughter in the Creeslough tragedy. I know she was in contact directly with the Minister of State as well. She talks about the support she and her family get from this service. The fact that the service is now in a wind-down mode because it has been refused core funding is devastating to anybody who is availing of counselling services. Anybody who is going through counselling knows the impact of not knowing that a counsellor will be available in the coming weeks or months.

See this speech in context