Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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61. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to fund services such as a service (details supplied) on an annual basis. [27843/17]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Good2Talk Counselling & Psychotherapy Support Services Ltd. is a counselling service based in Mullingar that covers county Westmeath. They are a community-based service that offers affordable and accessible counselling. They work with clients from 16 years and up who present with a range of mental health issues. These include groups such as the socially/financially disadvantaged, ethnic minorities, the LGBT community and Travellers.

Good2Talk was awarded funding through the HSE Resource Office for Suicide Prevention of €25,000 in 2014 and €39,600 in 2015.

This funding was accessed by the Resource Office for Suicide Prevention (Midlands) under the ‘Community Resilience Funding’ stream financed by the National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP). This funding stream ended in 2015 with the publication of the National Strategy ‘Connecting for Life’ in 2015. The ending of the Community Resilience Funding stream after 2015 was communicated to all of the recipients of the funding, including Good2Talk. All future needs for funding will be assessed under the provisions and implementation of the new County Suicide Prevention Plans which aim to ‘develop and implement consistent multi-agency suicide prevention actions plans to enhance communities’ capacity to respond to suicidal behaviours’.

In 2016 Good2Talk was awarded €18,000 under the National Lottery Grant Scheme. Good2Talk has made an application under the National Lottery Grant Scheme for 2017. Good2Talk has also been informed about the development of the Connecting for Life Implementation Plan for Longford/Westmeath and they be invited to participate in the Plan’s consultation process which will take place in October 2017.