Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Last Friday the missing persons helpline was out of action for one year. When this service was introduced in 2002 the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell said, "For too long the crime victim was marginalised and treated as a mere spectator to the criminal justice process." He admitted that Ireland lagged behind other countries in terms of such services and said that although we were learning it was strange that we had not reached this stage previously. He described the service as a positive step and said, "This service will provide invaluable advice and psychological support for families of missing persons". This was quoted in the Irish Examiner on 25 October 2002.

In response to parliamentary questions tabled by several Deputies last January, the Minister quoted selectively from a report evaluating the helpline he had commissioned. Stating that there had been only 100 calls to the helpline between 2002 and 2003, he failed to provide the justification for its continued use in the same report and the reasons given for the number of calls. This gave the impression that the helpline was of limited value.

The Minister recently criticised the selective use of statistics yet is himself guilty on this charge in respect of this issue.

The report, An evaluation of the National Missing Persons Helpline, written in 2003 by Kevin Lalor and Kalis Pope, two social scientists in the Dublin Institute of Technology, made 12 recommendations. These were that funding for the helpline be continued, that the operation of the helpline under the auspices of Victim Support be continued and that a concerted effort be made to increase public awareness of the helpline through, for example, making the brochure available at citizens information centres, railway stations, airports, ferry bus terminals, public libraries, student unions and local newspapers at times when articles are being written about missing persons.

Other recommendations in the report were that an advertising budget be identified, that the range of services for families of the missing be extended and that volunteers be recruited. According to the report, the missing persons helpline should be regarded as a first step. The report also refers to the importance of providing a professional counselling service to families of missing persons. It recommends the development of formaI service agreements between the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Victim Support and quarterly meetings between the helpline operator, the Missing Persons Bureau and the Department.

Another recommendation is the expansion of the remit of the helpline as "a link between family and friends of missing persons". The report argued that while both the Missing Persons Association and the embryonic Missing in Ireland Support Service sprang up spontaneously in response to the lack of services for families and loved ones of missing persons, the greatest benefit would accrue from a single national voluntary body with close links to the missing persons helpline. According to the report, this would facilitate the creation of a critical mass which could evolve into a larger service.

The report recommended exploring the possibility of integrating the missing persons website with the helpline; inducting a small number of specialist volunteers into the helpline; offering the helpline as a free call service, as opposed to a lo-call service; and making regular and prolonged efforts to ensure that members of the Garda Síochána are aware of the helpline. A total of 700 Garda stations were surveyed in November 2003, of which only 65% had a brochure on display. The report's final recommendation was that call records be computerised in anticipation of an increased number of calls to the helpline.

Just over a month prior to its abandonment, the Minister communicated with my constituency colleague, Deputy Durkan, about the helpline. He stated:

The Deputy will be aware of the missing persons helpline, which has been operating since October 2002. This is a dedicated helpline which is operated by Victim Support as a counselling and referral service and serves as a primary point of contact for the families of missing persons. The helpline provides advice and psychological support for families of missing persons as well as structured liaison with the Garda Síochána.

The Minister has catalogued problems with the Victim Support Organisation, which has now closed down. However, he cannot talk about the need for a service like the missing persons helpline and decide on a course of action, at a time when we are awash with money, that terminates the helpline. The Minister informed me that the number of people who remained untraced out of the 1,848 people who were reported missing in 1997 was three. However, this figure starkly contrasts with the 72 people who remained untraced at the end of 2005. These people were part of a group of 4,319 people who were reported missing during this year. A problem clearly exists, which is not the fault of Victim Support but is the result of the decision by the Minister to withdraw a service which needs to be restored, irrespective of whether it is an independent helpline or a service attached to a service organisation.

Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who, unfortunately, is unable to attend this debate. I assure the Deputy that the Minister and I share her concern and that of many members of the public with regard to missing persons.

The national missing persons helpline was established in October 2002. Initially, funding of €65,000, which included set-up costs, was provided by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to establish a dedicated national missing persons helpline to be operated and administered by Victim Support. Further funding of €45,000 was provided to the helpline in 2003. The Deputy should bear in mind that this funding was subject to the conditions that no funding beyond the year 2003 should be implied and that audited accounts should be provided to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I understand that, to date, no audited accounts have been received in the Department.

The conditions under which the Department provided funding did not include any requirements concerning the operational activities of the helpline, such as advertising and strategy, as referred to by the Deputy. Any decisions relating to the operation of the helpline were made by Victim Support, an independent, non-governmental organisation with charitable status, which managed the operation of the helpline, in conjunction with the helpline itself.

In March 2005, following an independent review, the Minister decided that continued funding of Victim Support could no longer be justified due to serious concerns in respect of governance, accountability for public funds and poor service levels, following a lengthy period of instability within the organisation. I understand that Victim Support Limited closed down its headquarters during 2005 and that a number of staff were made redundant, including the person employed to operate the missing persons helpline. The Department had no role in the decision of Victim Support Limited to make a number of its staff redundant, other than to insist that statutory requirements, such as notice, holiday pay etc., were met and the interests of the staff protected.

In March 2005, the Minister established a new commission for the support of victims of crime to devise an appropriate support framework for victims of crime into the future and to disburse funding for victim support measures. The commission is entirely independent in its decision making and examines each application on its merits. Its members are Mr. Jim McHugh, retired assistant commissioner in the Garda Síochána, who is the chairman; Ms Nora Owen, former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform; Mr. Sean Lowry, former head of the Probation and Welfare Service; Mr. Michael Whelan, Gemini Consulting; and Ms Marian Finucane, who is a broadcaster.

The commission received an application from the Missing ln Ireland Support Service for €71,600 to establish, staff and operate a helpline for missing persons. After careful consideration of the application, the commission decided to offer funding of €25,000. However, this offer was rejected by the Missing in Ireland Support Service on the basis that it would accept only the full amount sought. In this context, it should be borne in mind that the commission is charged with funding support services for victims of crime and that while some persons who are missing are crime victims, most missing persons are not. Other than the request to the independent commission for funding, no request for funding has been made by the helpline to the Department. It remains open to the Missing In Ireland Support Service to make an application to the Department for assistance if it so wishes. Any such application will be carefully considered on its merits.

The missing persons bureau in Garda headquarters is responsible for maintaining data relating to missing persons. All cases of a person reported missing in suspicious circumstances remain open and under ongoing review and investigation until the person is located or, in the case of a missing person who is presumed drowned, a verdict to that effect is made by a coroner.

At present, local Garda management take direct responsibility for missing person cases and special investigation teams are appointed as necessary. All missing persons are recorded on the PULSE system. When a person is reported missing, the local Garda superintendent takes direct responsibility for the investigation and appoints an investigation team to include any specialised unit deemed necessary — for example, the national bureau of criminal investigation or the technical bureau. The systems put in place by the Garda Síochána to manage and deal with reports of missing persons are in line with the best international police practice and Garda management is satisfied and has assured the Minister that the systems in place are adequate to deal with any reported case of a missing person.

The Garda Síochána interacts fully and as appropriate with all media outlets — print, radio and TV — in highlighting cases involving missing persons. The services of other external agencies such as Interpol and Europol are also available to assist in the investigation. In addition, every Garda district has a specially trained search team that is familiar with the locality. The investigation of missing persons is a dedicated subject on the curriculum at the Garda College, Templemore, and is covered during in-service training.