Two new initiatives to help fund Pieta House for Tuam

By SIOBHÃÂN HOLLIMAN A TUAM website company has launched a new site to help charities raise funds and the first charity to benefit is the suicide prevention organisation Pieta House. The site www.idonate.ie supports credit card online donations and SMS texts from mobile phones. [private] One of the campaigners working to have a Pieta House established in Tuam, local businessman John Concannon, helped launched the initiative during the recent visit by RTÉ's Pat Kenny to Tuam. The service has been developed by Western Webs - father and son team, Paddy and Alan Coyne. John Concannon says it's very easy for people to make a donation to help the services offered by Pieta House. 'All you have to do is text 'idonate pieta' to 57777. The text costs €1.50,' he explained. However the website designers have raised concerns that charities are at risk of losing thousands of euro because of an anomaly with mobile phone text donations. Paddy Coyne says that charities are exempt from paying VAT on donations but argues that mobile phone companies are deducting VAT from text donations. He believes that there is no process to allow the charities to claim the money back. 'This is resulting in serious losses to charities all over the country. For donations of €10,000, the charities are losing €1,700,' said Paddy Coyne. He said that mobile phone operators claim that their in-house system can't recognise the difference between a charity donation and a premium mobile phone text. A new online petition has been launched on the idonate website calling for the proper implementation of the Revenue guidelines by mobile phone operators. When contacted by The Tuam Herald a spokesperson for Vodafone confirmed that their billing system currently automatically takes the VAT on all texts, however she stressed that they are working on how this can be changed in the near future. She said as far as she was aware charities can claim the VAT back at the end of the year but added that, ideally, Vodafone want to allow for the VAT to be removed at billing. 'We are very keen to enable charities to get as much from their text donations as possible. We have a zero rating for charities at the moment and do not take any cut from the donation texts. 'A meeting is taking place this week with the head of our SMS division to see what can be done,' she explained. Submission to Minister Meanwhile progress is being made in the campaign to establish a Pieta House in Tuam to serve a large area of the west region. A submission has been made to Minister for Mental Health and Older People Kathleen Lynch regarding the proposal to establish the service within the HSE West's Toghermore Campus. HSE Manager of Mental Health Services in Galway Adrian Ahern confirmed to The Tuam Herald that he had written to Minister Lynch last week. Discussions have taken place between HSE West and Pieta House about establishing the service in Tuam, which would serve a 60-mile radius. Minister Lynch requested the submission when she met with the HSE and Pieta House during her visit to Toghermore a few weeks ago. She was very positive towards the service, which would offer treatment for those with suicidal tendencies and those who self harm. Mr Ahern said he didn't know how long it would take for the Minister to respond to the submission. Senator sings for charity Further funds are being raised for Pieta House through a charity release of Bridge Over Troubled Water, which features a number of Oireachtas members, including Athenry Labour Senator Lorraine Higgins. 'While our collective singing efforts were a little off-key at times, we're hoping that our efforts will help in highlighting a very important issue,' said Senator Higgins. 'At the moment, particularly in the West of Ireland, suicide is a major social concern. Sadly the figures indicate that death by suicide is increasing and charities like Pieta House show that there is literally a place where vulnerable people can go, to use that bridge to overcome their personal difficulties,' she added. [/private]