Suicide prevention charity Pieta is to begin a restructuring programme to save €3 million after its fundraising declined by almost a quarter in recent years.

The charity, which delivers therapy to people experiencing suicidal ideation and self harm, as well as to those bereaved through suicide, has said the current financial situation is “unsustainable”.

Stephanie Manahan, chief executive of Pieta, said fundraising has been a “major challenge” since Covid-19. She attributes the drop-off to the cost-of-living crisis.

“Pieta currently has a cost base of €17 million. We get €3 million from the HSE … We are needing to raise a significant amount of money every year that pays for the majority of our services.”

She said 85 per cent of Pieta’s services are funded through fundraising, which “means we are very vulnerable to peaks and troughs”.

Ms Manahan said there have been year-on-year decreases in funding since the pandemic, falling from €13 million to €10 million last year. Consequently the organisation has been drawing between €2.5 million and €3 million per year from their reserves.

Ms Manahan said she met staff on Wednesday to inform them of the sustainability plan that will be implemented.

She said it was “difficult to say” how much the charity’s headcount will be reduced, but the focus initially will be on non-clinical roles.

There are 18 people on notice as of Friday “and that of course is going to grow in the coming months”, she added.

“The challenge of taking €3 million out of an organisation like Pieta is that, inevitably, it will of course impact on the whole organisation,” she said.

The priority through all of this will be remaining “true to our purpose”, she said. “The work we do is just too important. We are working with some of the highest-risk people in the country. They can’t afford to wait. They need to have access to a service immediately.”

Asked if she would be taking a pay cut to reduce costs, Ms Mannion said her salary of €120,000 is “benchmarked” against others in the sector.

“There are no additional allowances. Despite the fact that we’ve given modest increases to all of our staff in recent years, I didn’t avail of any of those increases for the past three years,” she added.

Last year, 6,865 people were helped by Pieta psychotherapists delivering 50,944 free therapy hours. More than 100,000 calls or texts were received by its helpline.