Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I am replying to this matter this evening on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I thank Deputy Costello for raising it.

The Government is mindful of the great pain and suffering caused to people, both North and South, during the period of conflict in Northern Ireland. We are all particularly conscious of the burden that has been borne by the survivors and the families of the victims of so many brutal attacks, including the bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in 1974, which are always in our minds at this time of the year. The Minister recognises fully the good work that has been undertaken by Justice for the Forgotten in the past, particularly its contribution to the Barron inquiry.

The Good Friday Agreement acknowledged the need to address the suffering of victims and recognised their right to remember that suffering. Arising from the Good Friday Agreement, the Government established the victims commission in 1998, under former Tánaiste John Wilson, to conduct a review of the services and arrangements in place in this jurisdiction to meet the needs of those who had suffered as a result of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

The report of the victims commission, A Place and a Name,made a number of recommendations, including the provision of acknowledgement and other payments to victims and their families. The Remembrance Commission was established to oversee the disbursement of such payments under the terms of the scheme of acknowledgement, remembrance and assistance for victims in this jurisdiction of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

The scheme of acknowledgement also provided for the allocation of funding to victim support groups in respect of the provision of counselling services. Under this element of the scheme, payments were made to Justice for the Forgotten for the purpose of meeting the counselling and other needs of victims or the family members of victims, and the Minister has asked me to pay tribute to their great work in this area. The funding of these services was made in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and the Minister does not accept the assertions that have been made that somehow the Government has reneged on its commitments in this regard.

During the period of operation of the scheme of acknowledgement, Justice for the Forgotten received €1.2 million out of the total of €1.5 million allocated for victim support services, and it was the only recipient of money under this heading. In addition, the organisation received over €890,000 from the Department of the Taoiseach between 2000 and 2003.

The term of appointment of the remembrance commission, originally set at three years, was extended for a further two years and came to an end in 2008. The funding which was previously provided under the terms of the scheme of acknowledgement was, therefore, no longer available. However, following the end of the remembrance commission's term of appointment, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform made further moneys available to Justice for the Forgotten in order to enable it to seek to put in place alternative sources of funding. In these very difficult financial times, some hard decisions have had to be made. The priority of the Minister for Justice and Law Reform, as he has stated, must be ensuring that the ongoing medical expenses of victims in this jurisdiction of the conflict in Northern Ireland continue to be provided for. Any available funding must be directed to that and, to this end, the Minister has made arrangements for these costs to be looked after through the victims of crime office of his Department.

See this speech in context