Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 196: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his Department received a request for funding on behalf of the Irish Missing Persons' Helpline; if such funding was provided and the amount of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38546/06]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 221: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a request for funding was made to his Department by the Irish Missing Persons Helpline; if it was successful; the amount of grant aid provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38693/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 196 and 221 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 the 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, and as a matter of good practice in the handling of public money, 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 as being in the region of 100. 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. I understand that Victim Support closed down its headquarters operation during 2005 and that 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 to make a number of its staff redundant, other than to insist that statutory requirements (notice, holiday pay, etc.) be met and that the interests of the staff be protected.

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. The Commission received an application from the Missing in 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. 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.

The Garda Síochána continuously monitors international developments in relation to missing persons in order to ensure that best practice is followed. If its professional judgement is that some change in the existing legislation, protocols or structures would be of assistance in improving investigations, this would be considered by me. I am of the view that a Helpline for this purpose is best set up on an independent basis and by a non-official, voluntary organisation. A proposal for funding has been received in my Department from the Missing In Ireland Support Service to establish a national missing persons helpline. The proposal is currently being examined with the assistance of An Garda Síochána.