Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. The support that is provided in the scheme, which is administered by the Department of foreign affairs is very much appreciated. It is appreciated by the clients, the survivors and elderly Irish people from all over the midlands and also by the staff who help them with their needs.

However, the policy within Government is that the Government does not support either capital funding or long- or even medium-term premises. The difficulty with providing these services is that they need to be secure and need in the same place for a protracted time. Eaton House is in a very good location but the Coventry Irish Society has no security of tenure in that building, which is due for demolition at some stage. Its lease is up in May and it is hoping to get another three-year lease. However, as I already mentioned it has moved five times in the past ten years, which is not really satisfactory. Something extra should be given to this community on a once-off basis given the amount of work it does with the older Irish community in general and given the amount of work that it does in helping the survivors - as the Minister of State has noted, 30% of survivors of institutional abuse live in Britain.

The other ones in Yorkshire, Lancashire and London have appropriate premises, but the Coventry centre does not. I am asking the Government to look at this and provide some sort of medium-term help on a once-off basis with leasehold or to allow the society to purchase a building so it can provide the best of care which is what is owed to the people who use the services.

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