Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when the helpline for missing persons was established; the operation of the helpline; when he intends to establish the helpline on a permanent basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3491/06]

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 36: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to reinstate the missing persons helpline which had provided invaluable advice and support for families of missing persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3570/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 36 together.

Funding of €110,000 in respect of a national missing persons helpline made available by my Department in 2002 and 2003 was channelled through the Victim Support organisation, and was in addition to the ongoing funding that organisation received for the provision of services to victims of crime. This funding of €110,000 was provided subject to the conditions that no funding beyond the year 2003 should be implied, and audited accounts should be provided to my Department on a calendar year basis. To date, no audited accounts have been received in my Department. At the end of 2003, my Department commissioned a review of the helpline from the Department of Social Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology, which recorded the number of phone calls to the helpline up to that time at approximately 100. While the Department is of the view that this service is a valuable one for the relatives of missing persons, it may be the case that the service could be provided on a more cost effective basis as an add on to an existing service.

The Victim Support organisation received financial support from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform from 1985 to 31 March 2005. Almost €5.5 million had been made available over the five years up to 2005.

In March 2005, I decided that continued funding of the Victim Support organisation could no longer be justified due to serious concerns in relation to governance, accountability for public funds and poor service levels, after a lengthy period of instability within the organisation.

The missing persons helpline was operated from the headquarters of Victim Support alongside Victim Support's own helpline for victims of crime. I understand that Victim Support Ltd closed down its headquarters operation during 2005 and a number of staff were made redundant, including the person employed to operate the missing persons helpline. My Department had no role in the decision of Victim Support Ltd to make a number of its staff redundant, other than to insist that statutory requirements — notice, holiday pay, etc. — be met and the interests of the staff protected.

Also, in March 2005, I 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. In April 2005, the commission received an application from the Missing in Ireland Support Service for €71,000 to establish, staff and operate a helpline for missing persons. I am advised that in the course of follow-up discussions, the Missing in Ireland Support Service rejected an offer of funding of €25,000 from the commission and advised that it would accept the full amount sought or nothing. It should be borne in mind in this context 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 are not. I understand there was no further contact between the commission and Missing in Ireland Support Service until November 2005. At that time, the commission suggested to Missing in Ireland Support Service that it should contact my Department, which had provided funding for a helpline in 2002 and 2003, with a view to furthering its application for funding.

Other than the request to the independent commission for funding, no request for funding has been made by the Missing in Ireland Support Service to my Department as such. It remains open to the Missing in Ireland Support Service to make a new application to my Department for assistance if they so wish. Any such application will be carefully considered on its merits.