Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael)

I echo a couple of things before I get started. The first is about Ann Woodlock. Ann is from Drimnagh. I know her well. I see her every Saturday doing the park run. She is the best of us and she beats the best of us every single Saturday. Congratulations to her on her gold medal at the weekend and the best of luck this weekend in her next event.

I also echo Senator Nelson Murray's comments about an Tánaiste, Simon Harris. Notwithstanding the fact that I would not be here without Simon Harris, the benefit or advantage that we have is that we see what Simon does behind the scenes. He is the hardest of workers. He knows his brief so well. He is a role model for all the rest of us who are budding politicians. We wish him well this afternoon.

I was going to start by giving out about something, and then I got an email this morning which was very good news, so I no longer need to give out. The Loreto Centre Crumlin does amazing work. It provides free counselling and psychotherapy services to the people of Crumlin and its environs. About 41 counsellors are working there free of charge, which obviously takes massive pressure off the HSE locally. They deliver 3,000 sessions to 250 people every year. Those people would not afford counselling and they certainly would not be joining a HSE waiting list to try to get access to that counselling. Various representatives in the area have been campaigning behind the scenes for the last number of weeks and months to get essential funding, because the Loreto Centre was established 25 years ago by the Loreto order, but it is pulling back from its services in Ireland, so the centre was going to have to close unless it got emergency funding. It needs €100,000 every year, which is not a lot of money when you consider that 40 counsellors work and deliver sessions to 250 people every single year.

The news today was very welcome. There was a meeting with the HSE last week and the centre has been awarded €65,000 in funding for now and next year. We will have to revisit this in 2027 and I will have to start giving out again, but for now, I just want to congratulate Anca Lupu, the manager. She is the only staff member in the centre; everybody else is voluntary. Congratulations on getting the funding over the line. We will continue to advocate for the Loreto Centre into the future.