Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to call for a debate on mental health services as soon as possible. I would particularly like to focus on the funding crisis facing Save our Sons and Daughters, SOSAD, currently. SOSAD provides a valuable service and has probably saved hundreds of lives. It offers a freephone service, a messaging service and it has two drop-in centres, one of which is in my home town of Cavan, as well as a counselling service. Most of the staff are volunteers. There are only 16 staff, comprising six full-time and ten part-time. They are currently in negotiation with the HSE for a service level agreement. Last November, they were promised by the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, that there would be ongoing funding coming to keep the services operational until that service level agreement is put in place. The work and negotiations on that agreement take time. They are at crisis point now. They are actually pulling back on services. They doubt there is enough funding to last another month.

There is nothing to fill the gap if they go bust and cannot provide a service. They are actually receiving referrals from the HSE and from GPs. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, please to engage with SOSAD and ensure there is sufficient funding to keep them going for approximately six months until the service level agreement is worked out between them and the HSE, and hopefully put in place to ensure sufficient funding for a service going forward.