I wish to raise the issue of mental health services, particularly in the north west. I refer to the issue of NGOs that provide counselling services. In my area there is an organisation called North West STOP. There are many other such organisations around the country and they cannot get any funding from Government at all unless they are national organisations, yet many of the national organisations are referring clients to them. Something needs to be done, and Government needs to make a commitment to provide some way to fund them. North West STOP is one example. It has been in existence for more than ten years and has done tremendous work to assist families and people who have suffered the consequences of suicide. It has worked well to prevent suicide and has saved many lives. However, in the past 15 years, it has received a total of €800 to buy a laptop. That is a scandal, and I ask Government to come up with a solution to this. These organisations, although they may not be national organisations, do tremendous work, and some mechanism of support needs to be put in place for them.

I thank the Deputy for his question about North West STOP. Regarding his question about funding, I cannot give him the individual detail on the case to which he referred, as he will appreciate. The HSE funds nationally 1,027 different organisations each year to support mental health the length and breadth of the country. I do not know the details of North West STOP. On Thursday we will launch a phone line with a single number to access each one of those organisations and to direct people to them. Again, I am not speaking about North West STOP, but I suggest that any organisation that does not receive funding is not either clinically or corporately governed. They are the two main criteria organisations must meet. If both are met, there is no reason the HSE would fail to support an organisation, but I am quite happy to look into the matter a little further. If the Deputy wishes to send me some details of the specific case, I will do that.