Before coming here, I met with representatives of the Samaritans in Buswells Hotel. I met with John and Eddie from the Waterford branch. They told me the only person who receives a payment of any kind in that branch is the person who comes in to clean once a week. It is an outstanding voluntary organisation. If people have a need to pick up the phone, somebody will be at the far end of the line 24-7 to pick up and talk to them. You will have a fully trained volunteer on the end of the line. There will be no judgment or pressure. You are advised to let it all out and you are in charge of your own call.

The representatives I met did not have a specific ask and I told them that is something they had to come back with, more usefully, but they did say that many of the phone calls they get now relate to loneliness. That has been very much exacerbated by the multiple lockdowns we had to deal with during the pandemic. Are we doing enough to tackle the scourge of loneliness across our society?

I thank the Deputy for highlighting the fantastic work the Samaritans do. When I was Minister for Health we had a discrete lottery fund allocation at the time and were able to assist Dublin and Cork Samaritans with new facilities. We should always seek to ensure their facilities are good and any training or whatever is supported. That is their esprit de corps and ethos.

The Deputy's important point concerned loneliness and the need for Government to adopt policies across education and the community more generally through Pobal and other initiatives to ease that huge issue.