Seanad debates
Tuesday, 4 July 2023
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Health Services
1:00 pm
Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State.
Mark Wall (Labour)
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I, too, welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank her for joining us. I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter for discussion. Willow Community Counselling Services was founded by Sharon Malloy in 2018. It is managed by a dedicated board of directors. I wish to again put on record that I am one of those directors. I am seeking additional funding because I was told at a board meeting I attended last Thursday night that money is running out. If the service does not get additional funding, it will only last another couple of months.
Willow, and I as one of its board members, are extremely grateful for the €47,500 it has already received from the HSE this year. It has put that money to good use, making a direct and significant impact in Athy and the surrounding area this year. Like many towns of its size, Athy, which is my home town, has experienced an increase in the number of those needing help and advice with drug addiction. Without additional funding, Willow will have to close its doors in the coming weeks, which would have a detrimental and devastating effect on those who are coming through its doors in ever-increasing numbers.
Willow is the most effective local service in Athy. It has built on the trust Sharon and her team established with people in recent years. This trust has reached many within the community who previously never engaged but, rather, kept to themselves and shunned attempts to help them. Some years ago, Willow predicted a growing crack cocaine problem not just in south Kildare but in rural towns and communities throughout the State. Unfortunately, that prediction has come true. Those treating crack cocaine users point out that the fact there is no clinical substitute for the drug makes clinical detox problematic because the client first needs to cease using crack cocaine. This is why we need to fund established schemes such as Willow, which has proven it can get to those who need its help most and in recent years has established trust such that 80% of its clients come to its doors by word of mouth.
In the short few years since it was set up, Willow has seen an increase of more than 100% in the hours needed to reach out to those who need its help most. The group needed to find and relocate to a new premises which offers more room and privacy to treat those who need assistance. The new premises can now accommodate group therapy sessions, which are another important step on the road to recovery, as the Minister of State may be aware. Without the necessary funding, however, Willow will not be able to progress to this important step in what it can offer to those who need its help.
In recent weeks, I have spoken in confidence to several people who have been through the doors of Willow. The one issue that comes up is the life-changing experience that using Willow's services has been for them, to the extent that they are now offering to fundraise to keep the doors open. They do not want anybody to lose out on the wonderful service they received. They want to ensure the services are there for anyone who needs them. Last Thursday night, I heard they are organising fun walks, golf classics and fishing classics. That is what is happening. I hope the Minister of State will have good news for the service today.
Athy and south Kildare have their problems but those problems are also present in other towns and communities throughout the State. We are told by those in the know that drug use is a coping mechanism for trauma.We have a service in Athy in south Kildare that is working, growing and, most importantly, needed. There is no need to set up another service or even start again. I hope the Government recognises the importance of this service in the area where I live. I hope the Minister of State comes with some good news because Willow Community Counselling Services have made a difference to Athy in recent years. The Minister of State is most welcome to come to Athy any time and talk to those who have been through their doors.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Wall for raising this matter. This is not my area of responsibility; I am here on behalf of another Minister. However, I would be very interested in going to see the services provided. It is extraordinary what the commitment of that community group and the drive of individuals in community support can bring to a particular matter. Sharon Malloy is to be commended, as are all those involved, on the work they are doing and the intervention that is being made. I know that Willow takes a broader approach than simple diagnosis and treatment; it also includes the really important elements of mental health counselling and addiction counselling, without which no long-term impacts can be achieved. I appreciate that approach. The Department of Health suggests that because Willow Counselling covers a number of different disciplines including substance use and mental health, and because they cater for young people also, there are broader streams of funding that may be available to them including from HSE mental health services, Tusla and other organisations. I do wish this was my own area of direct responsibility so I could provide a deeper answer to the Senator today. I apologise to him that it is not so.
I had understood that Willow was in receipt of public funding of €40,000 a year, although the Senator said it is €47,500, under the grant aid agreement. I am also aware that it received €15,000 in December 2022 in one-off additional funding for the provision of extra counselling hours. I hope that has been useful but it may have also shown the path in terms of quite how useful it is and how much more needs to be funded. I am aware of that also. The Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Naughton, have published the strategic action plan for the implementation of the national drugs strategy for 2023 and 2024. The plan has a total of 34 actions based on the six strategic priorities following the review of the strategy in 2021. However, that only matters if those concrete actions make a measurable difference to the lives of people affected by drug use. One of the six strategic priorities is to enhance access to and delivery of drug and alcohol services in the community, exactly as the Senator has described. That priority seeks to enhance community care, which is important for people who are using drugs, by providing health and social care services at community level to meet the identified health needs. The Department of Health is very aware of the important role that organisations such as Willow Community Counselling Services play under the drugs strategy in assisting individuals and their families to cope with mental health and addiction issues. There is a commitment of the HSE addiction services to strengthen links with Willow Athy to support those presenting with drug and alcohol issues. The Department also suggests exploring those additional streams of funding, which I am sure the board has already considered and may in fact be activating at this point.
Mark Wall (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that she is not with the relevant Department. I also appreciate the response she gave. She hit on one point I would like to take up, namely, the families affected. This is one of the areas that Willow would like to explore more. One of the reasons we went to a new premises was to accommodate families and bring them in for the care that is needed at this time, and rightly so, as the Minister of State said. The Minister of State indicated that the board of Willow needs to go back to the HSE. We will do that. I hope the Minister of State will also put a word in following our conversation today. The most important thing I can say is that Athy needs Willow and Willow needs Athy. We need to keep its doors open. The couple of weeks we have left need to be extended. Even if we had another award of temporary funding, which the Minister of State mentioned previously - and all money has been very well spent - it would be much appreciated. I would be grateful if the Minister of State brought that back to the Minister and I appreciate her turning up today.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Senator that I will do that. I understand that in order to have real impact, the support of families is central to the approach that has to be taken. Community-based drug and alcohol services are a key part of the national drugs strategy in assessing the extent and nature of the drug problem and really getting at the issues behind that problem, which are often extremely complex, as the Senator, who is a member of the board of Willow Community Counselling Services, knows better than I do. The complexity of the challenges associated with improving outcomes for people with co-occurring mental illness and substance misuse problems, or dual diagnosis, is recognised in the mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, as well as in Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery: A health-led response to drug and alcohol use in Ireland 2017-2025, and the national drugs strategy.However, recognising that no single service can cater for the diverse needs of service users with dual diagnosis, we have to improve the overall structure. Willow Community Care is exactly in that space. It is clear to me that the model of care provided there is part of the dual diagnosis programme. It is clear that a model of care that describes a clear clinical pathway for all adolescents and adults suspected of having a dual diagnosis are supported through an integrated approach through primary care, substance misuse, community mental health and acute services.
Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Wall. I thank the Minister of State for her time here in the Seanad this afternoon. Our next Commencement matter is that of Senator Seery Kearney. We will wait for the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, to arrive.