Samaritans faces 'challenging' future due to pandemic fundraising issues

Niall Mulligan, the executive director of Samaritans Ireland, said that volunteers listened for over 100,000 hours during the 12 months after Covid-19 restrictions were introduced.

Samaritans Ireland may face "challenges" in the coming years as the Covid-19 pandemic makes fundraising more difficult, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

In the first 12 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the charity received 1,500 calls and emails every day, the committee was told.