Child and adolescent counselling service to stop due to lack of public funding

Donegal's only child and adolescent counselling service is to stop due to a lack of public funding.

Raphoe Diocesan Pastoral Services CLG operates outreach counselling services in Letterkenny, Dunfanaghy, Stranorlar, Creeslough, Buncrana, Carndonagh and  Dungloe.

The services will stop in mid-March after the not-for-profit organisation was unable to find funding for a full-time director of counselling and a coordinator,  a full-time director of counselling and a coordinator,  a full-time director of counselling and a coordinator.

“Despite consistent, exhaustive and explorative efforts in recent months to secure much-needed rolling investment from the HSE and Tusla to finance these positions, it’s now been confirmed that no funding will be made available,” the organisation's board of directors said in a statement.

The service is delivered by 26 part-time counsellors, including 11 student placements. Based out of the Raphoe Pastoral Centre in Letterkenny, the not-for-profit community-based service has provided support to many thousands of clients in Donegal since 2010, delivering almost 15,000 counselling sessions in the last six years alone.

The organisation says demand for the service has grown exponentially in recent times. Around 120 clients are receiving counselling at any one time with more than 350 people on the waiting list.

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Clinical governance and management are provided by award-winning director of counselling Liam Cannon, who is employed part-time one day per week but is standing down after 14 years at the helm. He was to leave his one-day-per-week post on January 2, having announced his resignation in September 2023 but has remained in position temporarily to allow the service to continue while attempts were made to secure funding to appoint a full-time director and coordinator. 

The Health Service Executive (HSE) said it has a standard application and negotiation process for the funding of non-statutory agencies.
“This process is used by the HSE to approve funding to a voluntary/non-statutory agency in relation to health and personal social services through service level agreements. There is currently no such agreement with this agency,” a HSE spokesperson said.

The service is the only one of its kind in Ireland and has been acclaimed nationally as a perfect blueprint for the delivery of counselling services throughout the country, with Mr Cannon being awarded the 2022 Carl Berkeley Memorial Award and the Northern Ireland Regional Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Counselling/Psychotherapy Field by The Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP).

The Diocese of Raphoe has supported the service since 1992, with additional funding provided via charitable contributions and client donations. In more recent times, Tusla has part-funded service delivery for children and adolescents. 

“At no time has any public funding been allocated for the adult counselling service provision. No funding is in place for management, staffing and administration costs,” the board of directors said.

The organisation said the failure to secure funding leaves the service without the required clinical governance essential to its delivery.

“It is deeply regrettable that adequate financing is not available to allow the continuation of this essential service, which has been delivered with the utmost dedication, commitment and professionalism by all involved.”

The board of directors said it is fully aware of the devastation the closure will cause to “clients, people on the waiting list, counsellors, support staff, students dependent on placements, and so many communities across Donegal”. 

“As the only counselling service for children and adolescents in the county, the cessation of this service will have far-reaching consequences and create a dangerous void in the provision of mental health services for young people in Donegal.

“It’s envisaged that the situation will become even more bleak for Donegal communities, as demand for counselling services steadily grows. The reality is that the loss of this vital service will leave the many thousands of people who need counselling with nowhere to turn. It will also undo many years of hard work invested in building the infrastructure and governance to deliver this service in local communities.”