Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 7 Dec 2021

Vol. 1015 No. 4

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Health Services

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú

We are here to discuss the planned removal of the community and voluntary addiction network groups from the national oversight committee on the delivery of the national drugs strategy. We believed the removal was going to happen on Friday. A number of us met and the Minister of State will have received a letter as well as communications from a number of people on this matter. There has been a stay of execution and there is talk of further discussion, which needs to happen. I am seeking real engagement. The concern is that we will go through the motions only for what we feared happening last Friday happening anyway.

There is another concern. There were six groups: the family addiction support network steering group, CityWide, UISCE, the voluntary addiction network teams and two additional bodies that changed from time to time. The difficulty is that we believe this number will be reduced to four and then become the civil society forum. The problem with having a civil society forum is that the Department will make a determination as to which personnel will sit on it. This does not reflect accountability, transparency or the idea of the national drugs strategy having ground-up community representation. It is similar to what is happening on the regional drugs task forces. Whether one is dealing with the Department or the HSE, community organisations will say that they are dealing with corporatism. We would be dealing with corporatism and bureaucracy and the cutting out of the community voluntary sector. That is not good enough and we need to get commitments today.

Deputy Joan Collins

For 25 years, our national drugs strategy has been underpinned by a community development approach. In 1996, the then Minister, on behalf of the State, acknowledged to community leaders who had been campaigning on the drugs issue for years that the then Government had not listened. The Minister set up a partnership structure that included community representation as a right to ensure that would never happen again.

With the publication of the midterm review, it appears that the Department is attempting to bring that partnership to an end. In the review document, the Department is effectively writing the community sector out of the national drugs strategy. It is altering the definition of "community" to remove the engagement with the wider community and has set out proposals for new structures that would remove the community networks that represent their sectors as core constituents of the strategy. There is no evidence base for the proposed changes to the structures, and adequate time and space have not been allowed for the networks to consider them. A brake has been put on the process, though. The national oversight committee was supposed to meet on Friday but the Minister has agreed that the Department will hold further discussions with the community sector.

The community sector has noticed that something is going on within the drug strategy. It is either a political decision, a HSE-driven decision or a Civil Service decision to try to take the community out of "community". I do not support that and I hope to hear a positive response from the Minister of State to the effect that the community will be part of the structure and will be listened to within it.

Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh

I do not know which genius thought this one up but this is the last thing that anyone who knows anything about the drugs task forces, the national drugs strategy and community involvement in drugs services would dream up. Communities have been central to the partnership and the framework of trying to tackle the problem within them. They are the experts in many ways. It is a pity that Departments, Ministers and so on sometimes dream up changes to things that are working. If it is not broken, do not fix it, especially where communities are involved. It took a lot of time to win the communities' trust. I was there during the time of Concerned Parents Against Drugs and the Coalition of Communities Against Drugs, COCAD, when communities had considerable mistrust of the system as they saw it - the Garda, the then health boards, Ministers and so on. Communities bought into the partnership approach. They saw it as an opportunity to frame national policy on an issue that was affecting them directly as communities, mothers, fathers or people who were addicted to drugs. They were able to inform that policy instead of having a policy that was dreamed up somewhere else being imposed on them.

It is sad that the situation has come to this and that there is an "uncivil" row, as it were. I do not know where the title "civil society forum" comes from. It would usually be "civic". We need to consider what the likes of Mr. Fergus McCabe fought for. It was not to be excluded or sidelined. Rather, it was to be central to all of the strategy around drugs.

Deputy Mark Ward

There has been a deliberate attempt to erode community resilience across many Departments, and not only the Department of Health. Last week, it was about dismantling the local jobs clubs, and this week it relates to community involvement in the drugs strategy. There seems to be a direct threat from the Government to communities and their resilience. Any chance the Government has to erode such resilience is grabbed with both hands.

I am a former member of the Clondalkin drug and alcohol task force. I worked on front-line community drugs services for many years. The last one I worked on was in Deputy Ó Snodaigh’s area in Inchicore. I saw the value of the role the community played in our strategic plans and strategies and how it engaged and informed what was going on there. Who is better placed to do that outside our communities?

There has been a deliberate attempt to reduce the number of community groups on the national oversight committee from six to four. As part of this, a decision has been made to remove the likes of CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign, the National Family Support Network and Uisce, on behalf of the community sector and the voluntary drug treatment network, from the national oversight committee.

A cross-party group, including members of the Minister of State’s party, met with CityWide last week. The last question I asked CityWide was what engagement it had with the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, in this process. The meeting was a public one. It informed me that it had no engagement with the Minister of State. Despite making numerous attempts in that regard, a meeting did not happen. I have been made aware that the position has shifted since the meeting last week and that is to be welcomed. What will be the implication on funding for CityWide and other voluntary community addiction services? Will their funding stream be impeded by this decision?

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Frankie Feighan)

I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue. I welcome this opportunity to confirm for the House the continued participation of the community and voluntary sector in the national oversight committee for the national drugs strategy.

I convened a meeting of the national oversight committee on Friday. My door is always open to meeting various groups. I have met CityWide on many occasions. It has been part of various deputations I have met previously. The meeting was attended by three representatives from the community and voluntary sector, representing CityWide, the National Voluntary Drug and Alcohol Sector and Uisce, the service user organisation. A fourth position remains vacant and will be filled in due course. At the meeting, I provided reassurance that there is no proposal to remove community and voluntary groups from the national oversight committee. This appears to have arisen from a misunderstanding by CityWide of the Department's proposals to establish a civil society on drugs. I also dispute the accuracy of the claim that community groups are being written out of the national drugs strategy. To be clear: Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, a health-led response to drugs and alcohol use, remains in place as the national drug strategy until 2025.

As the strategy is a dynamic process, there is flexibility to introduce new actions to address emerging issues in the period from 2021 to 2025. To this end, I recently published the mid-term review of the actions in the strategy. Based on the learning from the mid-term review, six strategic priorities for 2021 to 2025 were identified. These priorities strengthen the health-led approach, reflect commitments in the programme for Government and align with the EU drugs strategy and action plan for 2021 to 2025. I assure Deputies that the priorities complement and build on the five goals in the national drugs strategy. The interagency approach involving a partnership between statutory, community and voluntary bodies remains central to the strategy, as does strengthening the resilience of communities to respond to the drug problem.

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú

It is fair to say that communities have been failed over the years. This is where we are starting from. When we talk to any organisation working in the community and voluntary sector that deals with drug addiction and the communities that are being ravaged by it, they tell us that it has become more difficult to deal with the State. I hope that what the Minister of State is saying will be the case, that there will be no diminution in the number of groups sitting on the national oversight committee and that the determination will be made by those groups and not by someone from the Department. The groups are currently very worried.

Deputy Joan Collins

I accept the point made by the Minister of State that CityWide and the community sector have not been taken out of the equation and that CityWide, the National Family Support Network and Uisce will continue to be on the national oversight committee. If the groups are not named to be on the committee, they are not recognised. It is important that they are named. I hope we will continue to see that positive continuation of the partnership in the meetings with the Department of Health.

Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh

I welcome the Minister of State's clarification. I hope that it will stand the test of time and that, as he presented it, this was a miscommunication. I know the Minister of State’s track record on the drugs issue. I accept that he personally might not want to go ahead with this but there has been tension all along between communities, community groups and some in the Department and the HSE. I urge the Minister of State to be cautious in that regard.

Deputy Mark Ward

The Minister of State mentioned in his statement that there had been a misunderstanding on the part of CityWide. I have worked with front-line organisations in addiction centres, and they have experience of the way things work. They do not make mistakes or misunderstand what is happening. CityWide was unequivocal in what it said: it did seek a meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, and there was no acknowledgement of the request. I did not say the Minister of State turned down the request, but there was no acknowledgement by him of the request for a meeting. A line needs to be drawn under the issue.

I welcome the initiatives the Minister of State outlined. I hope they happen, because we cannot erode any more community services or community resilience.

Deputy Frankie Feighan

I again thank the Deputies for the opportunity to confirm the continued participation of community and voluntary organisations in the national drugs strategy.

The interagency approach involving a partnership between statutory, community and voluntary bodies remains central to the strategy, as does strengthening the resilience of communities to respond to the drug problem.

Community organisations will continue to have an active role in the design and delivery of the strategy, both at local level through the drug and alcohol task forces and at national level through the national oversight committee.

I acknowledge the concerns of one organisation regarding its continued involvement in the national drugs strategy, and I understand the point made by Deputy Joan Collins. I know from long experience that the key to addressing legitimate concerns is not though megaphone diplomacy but through direct communication between parties based on mutual respect. I will meet those parties again to see if we can iron out any difficulties.

I look forward to working with all stakeholders, including community groups, voluntary service providers and people with lived experience of drugs, to deliver the strategic priorities for the strategy over its remaining years. Deputy Ward spoke about a meeting and I will follow that up in the morning. My office is open at all times. People have my number or they can email me, and I will be only too delighted to meet to try to resolve this issue. I thank all the Deputies for being balanced. I will try to work to ensure we get a satisfactory outcome that we all can be happy with. There are issues and it is a very difficult issue but I hope we will be able to resolve it in the coming days and weeks. Again, I thank all of the Deputies.

Deputy Joan Collins

What issues is the Minister of State talking about?

Deputy Frankie Feighan

I think there was a miscommunication or a misinterpretation of exactly what is happening. I think that was clarified at the meeting last Friday and I hope that, in the coming days, we can clarify this even further.

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú

There should be no diminution in numbers.

Home Care Packages

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for coming to the House and I know of her personal concern in regard to this matter. I believe Covid taught us one thing and that is the value, where it is a viable option, of caring for loved ones at home, particularly in old age. Moreover, that is often the desire of families. We all resolved after Covid to ensure that this would be a more viable option and that more people who want to be cared for at home, both by themselves and by their families, would be given that option. To do that, we need strong State supports. It is a very economical way of doing this but to do it, we need home care packages and home carers. However, in reality, the opposite is happening.

I will give a few examples. I know the case of a lady with multiple sclerosis and diabetes who has been awarded 42 hours, so that is approved. The agency that was given this package by the HSE has handed it back and there are now no carers. It handed it back on the understanding that it did not have the carers. As the HSE has stated that it also does not have the carers, she is only in receipt of 13 hours weekly that is provided by carers. There is another case where the carer was not replaced when she went on annual leave and no arrangements were put in place to cover the carer's leave. Everybody is entitled to leave. There is another case of a constituent who was awarded 16 hours of home care per week but has not been given more than six hours in any given week. On and on it goes.

I want to highlight these particular cases because it is a human tragedy that this is happening. Of course, it is making people reassess the option of caring for people in their own home environment which, as I said, is often the choice. However, it is not viable if people do not have the support.

What I am hoping to hear tonight is that the Government has a plan to address the issues. One of the fundamental issues, by the way, is that the profession of caring in the home is not a particularly well-paid profession. As I have argued for years, there is too big a gap between what the top of the public service is paid and what the bottom of the public service is paid, and we need to address this. It is coming back to haunt us that this issue has been allowed to go on. I hope the Minister of State will have some answers tonight. I know she is sympathetic. If she needs support in looking for the money, she will get the support of every Member of the House in making a stand. People who are caring and being cared for deserve the best and home is the best in many cases, although I am not ruling out the incredible role that nursing homes also play.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I notice Deputy Joan Collins is also here and listening; we had a discussion earlier in the back corridor, and many other Deputies have raised the situation with me.

The issue is not funding. If the issue was funding, I would be able to go and look for more funding and I feel I would secure it. My budget for home care for this year is €666 million, it increased by €150 million this year and I have secured the same increase for next year, which is to deliver 24 million hours of home care. The Deputy is right that Covid has taught us the value of caring for people at home. I want to see the Sláintecare model, that is, the right care at the right time in the right place, as close to home as possible.

By the end of October, almost 17 million hours had been provided to over 54,000 people, which is about 2.5 million more hours compared to the period last year, so we have made a lot of improvements this year alone. Significant inroads have been achieved in reducing the waiting list for funding approval for new and additional services. In January 2020, there were 7,800 people waiting for funding and it was down to 400 in September 2021, so I have managed to reduce the number of those waiting for funding for home care by 88%.

Therein lies the problem and the problem has got worse during the year. There are delays between the approval of funding and the delivery of home support hours, and the number of people in this category has increased steadily this year, primarily due to staff capacity issues. At the end of September this year, there were 4,933 people assessed and waiting for care to become available but the funding has been provided to provide the package. That is the most frustrating part for me - the fact I actually have the funding for the first year ever. I often stood on the other side at the House, talking to my predecessor, the former Minister of State, Jim Daly, and the funding was not available at the time due to different issues. Now, the funding is available, which is what makes it most frustrating.

The HSE is acutely aware there are increasing capacity issues across both direct and indirect provision. It continues to advertise on an ongoing basis for healthcare assistants and it recruits as many suitable candidates as possible. For example, the community healthcare organisation, CHO, covering the Deputy's area, CHO 4, is recruiting 300 home care assistants and that was put out for advertising last week. Every single HSE area and every single CHO is trying to recruit as many people as possible. They are recruiting through a variety of channels, both at local level and through the shared services office of the HSE's health business services. I recently started a round of meetings with the older person's lead in each CHO to discuss these challenges and to discuss day-care respite and community step-down. If we want to keep the throughput in our acute hospitals, the only way we can do that is by having the supports at home. I am also meeting regularly with Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI, which represents the private providers, and they also continue to recruit home support workers.

I have established a cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group. The role of the group will be to facilitate the views of stakeholders and to examine workforce challenges in home support and nursing homes. The areas to be considered include recruitment, retention, training, career development and the sustainable employment of home care workers into the future.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

I take my hat off to the Minister of State for all that has been done. However, how am I meant to go back to a constituent who was awarded just 14 hours home help weekly?

The hours were meant to be divided between morning and evening but the hours are only being given in the morning and the wife of the person being cared for has to put her husband to bed. However, because of the condition he is in, this requires two people. She was told that the latest they could come was 6.30 p.m. It is not a viable option to put somebody to bed at 6.30 p.m. because if that is done, he or she will be up very early the following morning and we will have the same problem in reverse.

I acknowledge all the statistics and the work the Minister of State is doing but that is no good to the person facing the individual dilemma. Funding is being provided but not funding in the normal sense. I accept that there is extra funding and that it is now much quicker to get the hours granted. We used to have the problem of getting the hours granted and now we have the problem of getting the carers. There is a problem this society has to look at. I recall the late Frank Prendergast, who was a Labour Deputy in this House and a trade unionist, talking to me time and again about how over the years the gap in how we pay people was growing. These are front-line workers. It is becoming more obvious across society that critical services are not being provided because we refuse to restructure our society to properly reward those providing the same services. Then we wonder why we cannot provide the services.

Deputy Mary Butler

I will go back to the cross-departmental strategic workforce advisory group. I announced a call for submissions last Friday to further identify key issues in recruitment and retention and to inform the establishment of the group in early 2022, which is January as far as I am concerned as it needs to be done as soon as possible. We are all aware that terms and conditions vary from the private sector to the HSE. The HSE pays approximately €16 per hour plus travel. Some of the private operators pay the minimum wage and others pay more. There are challenges there and those operators are losing staff to the HSE.

We have had a lot of talks with the HSE and a few recommendations have gone to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to be examined. For example, we have some young people who avail of Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grants who are allowed to work a certain amount of hours per month and we are trying to double that. We are also considering supporting people who receive a Department of Social Protection payment working a set amount of hours, as happens with the disability grant, so that they would not lose their supports and their medical cards would not be affected. We hope we can encourage more people back into the workforce that way.

I understand exactly where the Deputy is coming from. I get these queries in my constituency office as well; I would say there is no Deputy who does not get them. The problem we have is that a lot of carers work split shifts in the morning and the evening. Some 75% of all carers work part time. Everybody wants his or her loved one to be put to bed last but when carers are going out at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the evening, they go to one house and move on to the next. That side of it is very difficult but all I can do is provide a commitment that I will continue to do everything in my power to try to get more home care workers into the system. As the Deputy knows, we are challenged in that we have more people working than we ever had in the history of the State. We are challenged with hospitality, home care and retail and it is quite difficult. All I can say is I am working at this every day.

Mental Health Services

Deputy David Stanton

I thank the Minister of State for being here to discuss this important issue. I also acknowledge her personal interest and involvement in this issue since it arose last summer. Last June, the announcement was made that the Owenacurra Centre would close on 31 October and that in the interim all residents, and their families where appropriate, would be consulted. It was also promised that the will and preference of the residents would be paramount when suggestions were made on possible new placements for residents, of which there were 19, although I understand there are 15 now. The reason given for the closure at the time was the building was no longer fit for purpose in that it did not allow for the needs of a modern residential and day service and it had been criticised by the regulator. There were also questions about safety.

One of the families asked me earlier to ask the Minister of State a question. We understand that some works have been carried out at the centre recently. Is she satisfied that these works will enable the residents to stay there safely for the time being and are there plans to carry out other interim works in respect of safety? That is an issue that families and residents are concerned about. I hope she can tell me this evening that she is satisfied that it is safe. We know it is not fit for purpose for reasons of size, scale, design and so forth but can the Minister of State tell me this evening that nobody will be evicted from the centre against his or her will? That would mean that people could relax, engage and wait until a proper placement was proposed to them. It would be helpful for her to tell us that.

I refer to the broader policy on 24-hour staffed residential services. We have been informed that there is an extensive community-based service operating across the local area, including a home-based treatment team in multiple specialist services, which is good. I applaud that because we want to keep people in their homes and communities as far and as long as possible. I understand that a residential type setting is being sought to provide "a supported mode of living locally" and that the site will be used for future mental health services. What is meant by “a supported mode of living locally”? Supported living means people can live but it is not the same as 24-hour staffing. The question arises: what is the future of 24-hour staffed residential services such as those provided by the Owenacurra Centre? These have been described to me as being a type of step-down facility. We know that the kind of supports and services that have been provided there have been exemplary and that people have benefited from them. Could the Minister of State outline Government policy on 24-hour staffed residential services? Recently she told me: "There are no issues with community residences for mental health.” Does that include the type of service provided in the Owenacurra Centre? If this centre closes, will east Cork be the only region in the county of Cork without such a service? Will east Cork have 24-hour residential services into the future?

What are the long-term plans for the site? The HSE stated it is engaging with the local authority about long-term plans to use it for mental health services and so on. The local people value the 24-hour staffed service for a certain number of people who benefit from that. We know that there are other people who would benefit from supported living, that more people would benefit from being at home and that more people want to live in congregated settings and need that kind of support. The Owenacurra Centre is not a congregated setting; it is one of the steps on the way to recovery. Some people have been living there all their lives. These people know the area and they can go in and out of the shops, down the street and so forth and it is their home.

Can the Minister of State confirm that the place is safe and that people can relax as they will not be moved from the centre against their will? What is the policy on 24-hour staffed residential services nationally and in east Cork?

Deputy Mary Butler

I thank the Deputy for his question and for the constructive way he has phrased it. As he and I are aware, there are 19 residents living in the Owenacurra Centre and it is their home. I will not go over the history of it but in June 2021, the HSE notified the Department of its decision to close the Owenacurra Centre. The current building is not fit for purpose and cannot be brought to the standard required. The works being undertaken in the facility currently are to ensure that it is safe for the residents who live there. The Deputy will be aware, for example, that the kitchen was removed because it was a fire hazard and that food was being brought in from another facility.

The HSE's focus is on the impact of this closure on residents and their families in order that the will and preference of each individual will be heard like the Deputy said. Since the HSE informed staff and residents of this decision in June, it has been consulting with them on an ongoing basis and this consultation is continuing. The multidisciplinary team has met with all of the residents and their families where the person wishes to have family members involved, which is not always the case, and where the family members wish to attend meetings, which also is not always the case, to discuss their options. Unfortunately, I have to point that out. The will and preference of each resident is core to this process. I spoke to the area lead for mental health, Mr. Kevin Morrison, today and the relocation process is progressing. As of today, all the residents have had their needs assessed so that they can be appropriately placed in accordance with their assessed needs. The latest position is that of the 19 residents in Owenacurra, four have already transferred.

Two people have moved to nursing homes, one person has transitioned to a high support hostel, and another individual required admission to acute care but has a place secured with St. Catherine's continuing care centre. It is planned that a further two people will be moved to alternative placements this week, one to a nursing home and another to St. Stephen's hospital. These residents are being moved to a nursing home because their physical health challenges now outweigh their mental health challenges.

Residents will not be moved until appropriate placements have been found for each person based on their individual assessed needs, will and preference. I can give Deputy Stanton a guarantee on that. The Mental Health Commission is being informed of every single one of these moves and has asked to be kept apprised of what is happening. The priority of the Government and the HSE is the welfare of the remaining residents in the centre and that was always my concern too. While some people may require ongoing continuing care, others will be facilitated to live in lower support settings, based on their assessed needs. A residential-type setting for a number of residents is being sought to provide a supported mode of living locally. By this, I mean the community houses I spoke about last week. There are approximately 1,200 community houses throughout the country which provide ongoing, continuing care. Typically four or five people would live in these homes and they would be supported within the community. A possible location has also been identified to restore the day service in the town and negotiations are under way on its use. Deputy Stanton will appreciate that this is commercially sensitive but HSE Estates is involved and progress is being made. It is very important that the day care centre opens up as soon as possible.

Importantly, the Owenacurra site will be used in the future to build supported living accommodation for mental health service users and discussions have commenced with the local authority to explore options. These discussions are at an early stage and the HSE will proceed with developing proposals to this end over the coming months.

Deputy David Stanton

I thank the Minister of State for her very positive response, particularly her assurance that residents will not be moved "until appropriate placements have been found for each person based on their individual assessed needs, will and preference." That means that no pressure will be put on people and they will have to agree before they move to location X, Y or Z. That is hugely important and will be of great relief to the residents and their families.

I ask the Minister of State to explain what she means by building "supported living accommodation for mental health service users". I want to go back to the second part of my question this evening which is in respect of a 24-hour staffed service. I envisage a stepped service involving places like St. Stephen's, from which people can move down to somewhere like Midleton where there is a 24-hour staffed service, then there is the supported living which may not be a 24-hour staffed service and finally, care in the community and at home. They are all important but I would like the Minister of State to elaborate on the 24-hour staffed service. There is only one such service in east Cork which serves Youghal, Midleton, Cobh and right up to Glenville. It is a huge area. There are four such services in north Cork and there are others in west Cork and across the country. These services are 24-hour staffed, with people living in their homes but if they need support any time of the day or night, it is there for them. The policy, which is the Minister of State's responsibility, is what I want to tease out this evening. What is Government policy around this? Is it the intention of the HSE that such a service will be provided in east Cork? I would like to see a small centre in Youghal, another in Midleton and one in Cobh but there must be at least one such service in east Cork. This comes back to the question as to whether this service is required. Is a 24-hour staffed service part of the overall plan? It could be described as supported living but a bit more intensive than what the Minister of State described in her earlier response.

Deputy Mary Butler

Improving all aspects of mental health service delivery is a priority for me and that is what I try to do when I secure as much funding as possible, particularly for the recruitment and retention of staff. As we all know, the delivery of mental health services depends on the staff we have. Deputy Stanton referred to the fact that east Cork will be left without a facility like Owenacurra. The national implementation and monitoring committee is currently undertaking a bed capacity review for mental health beds across the whole country. It is looking at acute and community services, including the community houses to which I referred, to determine how we are fixed in that regard. It is also looking at forensic mental health services in the context of our prisons and the facility at Portrane.

A commitment has been given by the HSE that mental health support services will always be provided on the Owenacurra site, which is massive. We know that the building is not fit for purpose and that the residents have to leave. As Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people, what I do not want is that the only possibility for people is ending up in a long-term residential care facility. That is what I do not want. I want people to have the supports they need. There will be a range of people who want to live in supported housing with the correct wraparound supports. That does not mean that they will have somebody 24-7 but that they will have the correct wraparound supports, as determined by the individual. There are people living like that within the community.

Deputy Stanton asked about a 24-hour staffed service which is only available in Cork and Dublin through mental health crisis resolution teams. There are only two such teams in the whole country. I can only assume that is what Deputy Stanton is referring to, but I will check that out and revert back to the Deputy.

I want to make sure that the residents of Owenacurra have the best possible outcome.

The Dáil adjourned at 10.57 p.m until 9.12 a.m. on Wednesday, 8 December 2021.