Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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5. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will set a date to meet the Justice for the Forgotten group and the Pat Finucane Centre in relation to issues concerning them in the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8239/15]

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Will the Minister set a date to meet the Justice for the Forgotten group and the Pat Finucane Centre with regard to the issues surrounding them in the Stormont House Agreement and the outstanding issues relating to the bombings?

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a long-standing working relationship with the Justice for the Forgotten group. It is also in regular and ongoing contact with the Pat Finucane Centre on a range of legacy-related cases. My officials are in contact with the Justice for the Forgotten group with a view to arranging a meeting to discuss the Stormont House Agreement.

The Government continues to support the Justice for the Forgotten group in its campaign on behalf of the families affected by the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. In this regard, the group received grant support of €48,000 in early 2014 from my Department’s reconciliation fund. The funding will assist Justice for the Forgotten with its work of great importance. Justice for the Forgotten operates as a project of the Pat Finucane Centre, which itself received a further grant of €50,000 in the most recent round of reconciliation fund grants in late 2014. Overall, between 2002 and 2014, the Pat Finucane Centre and the Justice for the Forgotten group have received funding of €348,500 from the reconciliation fund.

The focus of the Government is currently on the effective and expeditious implementation of the Stormont House Agreement. In this context, I participated in the first implementation and review meeting of the agreement in Belfast on 30 January 2015, at which a detailed implementation timeline was agreed. Work on implementation is progressing well and a second review meeting will take place in March. A progress report will be published in June 2015. The Government remains committed to playing its part in ensuring the full implementation of the agreement.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Do I take it from the Minister's response that he will meet the Justice for the Forgotten group? With regard to funding last year, the group was fearful that the funding was to be stopped and it was necessary to put pressure on the previous Minister and to have meetings with him on that issue.

Last May, on the 40th anniversary of the bombings, the Taoiseach attended the commemoration on Talbot Street. The relatives and survivors have been waiting for answers for the past 40 years. This is an urgent matter. How much longer must they wait? When I met the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, I did not get the slightest impression that this was top of her agenda or that she would support the release of that information to an international commission.

I refer to the accounts given by the survivors, one of whom was a 14 year old boy who had just begun working. He woke up in the morgue because he was presumed dead. He is living with the nightmares and the psychological scars of that incident. President Michael D. Higgins put it succinctly when he said that a strategy of amnesia is simply not an option. We are heading into the 41st anniversary and it is time the commission of inquiry was given access to all of the documents.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Government fully supports the all-party Dáil motions of July 2008 and May 2011 urging the British Government to allow access by an independent international judicial figure to all documents in its possession relating to the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.

I have raised this issue on several occasions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers, MP, including, most recently, when I had the opportunity to meet her in Dublin on 11 February last, when she assured me that she would consider afresh how the British Government can respond to the Dáil motions.

I welcome the continued all-party support for the campaign on behalf of the Dublin-Monaghan families. As I noted earlier, the Justice for the Forgotten campaign, which supports victims and their families and which operates as a project of the Pat Finucane Centre, continues to receive grant aid from my Department. As I indicated in my reply, the Government continues to have a long-standing relationship with Justice for the Forgotten and the Pat Finucane Centre. Meetings have taken place on several occasions, the most recent of which was at senior political level. Contact at official level is both regular and ongoing. In recent weeks my officials met representatives of both organisations in Belfast. Following those discussions, I remain open to considering a meeting with both groups.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Justice for the Forgotten would really welcome a meeting with Deputy Charles Flanagan as the new Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Department of Justice and Equality, through its victims of crime office, has committed to providing funding for the physical needs of those injured in attacks relating to the Troubles. Such funding is both welcome and needed. However, there is no funding available for individuals, such as the man I referred to, who suffered psychological injuries. I ask the Minister to discuss this matter with the Minister for Justice and Equality to ensure that funding will be provided for those survivors who suffered psychological harm and who require counselling. It could be stated that these events occurred over 40 years ago but every year on the anniversary of the bombings and on each occasion on which a bombing or similar incident occurs, all of the old scars are reopened. As a result, there is a need for continual counselling to be provided. It is just not good enough that, over 40 years after the bombings, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland continues to state that she will consider how the British Government can respond.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Both groups have received a significant amount of financial support, the purpose of which is to acknowledge the important work they do, including in the context of dealing with the legacy of the past. Between 2003 and 2008, Justice for the Forgotten received just over €1.2 million from the Remembrance Commission, through the Department of Justice and Equality, in respect of counselling and other support services for the victims of the Troubles. The commission was wound up in 2008 but a further allocation of €190,000 was provided by the Department of Justice to allow Justice for the Forgotten to transition to other funding arrangements. The Pat Finucane Centre received €98,000 from my Department's reconciliation fund in 2014. This included a sum of €48,000 for a project organised by Justice for the Forgotten. Overall, between 2002 and 2014 the Pat Finucane Centre and Justice for the Forgotten received funding of the order of €350,000 from the reconciliation fund. I will continue to monitor the situation in light of what the Deputy said.