Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá alltacht orm agus mé ag cloisteáil inniu go bhfuil €18 milliún do na seirbhísí seo curtha ar ais as Ros Comáin.

As the Minister of State might know, Galway and Roscommon are linked in the provision of mental health services. I attended presentations a number of years ago at which we were told that the model to be used in the Galway-Roscommon mental health service would be exemplary in terms of best practice, but it is absolutely not.

I attended a joint policing committee, JPC, meeting yesterday. I am concerned about an increase in the numbers of burglaries, assaults, etc., and told by senior gardaí that many of them are alcohol and drug-fuelled. In Galway we are way behind when it comes to the provision of addiction counselling and mental health services. It is, therefore, disgraceful to find out that €18 million has been sent back. This issue has to be addressed. When one makes a comparison, there are far more counsellors in Waterford and Tralee than in Galway city and county, Mayo and Roscommon. We certainly need those moneys to be put back into the services in the region in order that we can deal with the very serious issues mentioned at a grassroots level.