Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if funding will be maintained for a group (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25341/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The group to which the Deputy refers were funded by the Remembrance Commission from 2003 to 2008. The Remembrance Commission, which was established on foot of the report of the Victims' Commission, A Place and a Name,disbursed funding in accordance with the Scheme of Acknowledgement, Remembrance and Assistance for Victims in this Jurisdiction of the Conflict in Northern Ireland. Under the Scheme, an amount of money was made available to victim support groups for the purpose of meeting the counselling needs of victims or members of the surviving families of victims in this jurisdiction as a result of the conflict. The group in question was the only recipient of money under this heading, receiving a total of almost €1.2m from the Commission.

The term of appointment of the Remembrance Commission, which was originally three years, was extended by a further year on two occasions. The term of appointment came to an end on 31 October 2008. Subsequently, I took a decision to grant an amount of further funding to the group in respect of the second half of its financial year, which ends on 31 July 2009. I have since made an additional amount of money available to the group out of the monies available to my Department for 2009. The funding awarded to the group following the end of the Remembrance Commission's term of appointment totals €190,300. I understand that this funding will be sufficient to allow the group to continue to operate well into next year.

Officials of my Department met recently with representatives of the group in question to inform them that, as the financial allocation to my Department in respect of the Remembrance Commission no longer exists, no further funding of this kind could be made available to the group. The group has been advised to explore other avenues of funding which may be open to it. My first priority, as I have previously stated to the House, is to ensure that the long-term medical expenses of survivors of incidents in this jurisdiction arising from the conflict in Northern Ireland will continue to be provided for and I can confirm that this will be the case.