Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Following inquiries in my Department and telephone contact with the group referred to in the details supplied, I wish to confirm that there are no outstanding claims for payments in my Department. The group received funding in each of the years 2014 to 2016, inclusive, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the reconciliation fund administered by that Department. The applications for funding from the 2017 tranche of the fund are at an advanced stage of review in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

I refer to my answer to a question tabled by Deputy Finian McGrath concerning those matters. The position has not changed since my reply on that day which outlined the exact situation in terms of the remembrance commission, for example, and the €3.87 million in funding that was made available to individual victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland resident in this jurisdiction to acknowledge their suffering. A significant amount of funding was also made available directly to the Justice for the Forgotten group, which supports many of the victims. The exceptional payments element of the remembrance commission scheme provided for the possibility of payment for counselling expenses incurred prior to the establishment of the scheme in the circumstances that were outlined. Some ongoing counselling services were provided through Justice for the Forgotten.

The group was also awarded funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under its reconciliation and anti-sectarianism funds to allow it to continue its important work.

While it is not possible to extend the nature of the schemes administered by it, I reiterate the assurances given previously that funding for certain ongoing medical needs of those who sustained injuries in the bombings has been and will continue to be provided through my Department's Victims of Crime Office. However, we have not been able to find any outstanding application. We have also made telephone contact with the group.

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