Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the hardship being caused to victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings as a result of the halving of the funding from him in respect of therapy treatment; if his further attention has been drawn to the implications for victims who received no help at the time and who will lose their access to therapy when the funding is ended at the end of 2009; if alternative arrangements are being made for the small number of survivors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31142/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to financial assistance which was until recently provided by the Remembrance Commission under the ambit of the Scheme of Acknowledgement, Remembrance and Assistance for Victims in this Jurisdiction of the Conflict in Northern Ireland.

In relation to the long-term medical expenses of survivors of incidents in this jurisdiction arising from the conflict in Northern Ireland, I can confirm, again, that these will continue to be provided for by my Department. Accordingly I have made provision that these will continue to be met by the Victims of Crime Office, which can be contacted at Pinebrook House, 71-74 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.

The Remembrance Commission was established in 2003 for an initial period of 3 years. The Commission's term of appointment was subsequently extended on two further occasions to give more time to those persons eligible for payments under the Scheme to make applications to the Commission. The Commission undertook extensive advertising campaigns to ensure the widest possible awareness of its role and of the categories of payments which could be made. The Commission's term of office came to an end on 31 October 2008 and no further payments under the Scheme can therefore be made.

Under the Scheme, payments could be made to individuals under various categories; such as acknowledgement payments, economic hardship payments and medical expenses payments. The Scheme also contained a provision to enable payments to be paid to groups offering support services to victims of the conflict. Under this element of the scheme payments were made to the victim support group Justice for the Forgotten for the purpose of meeting the counselling and other needs of victims or their family members. Although the Remembrance Commission's term of office has ended and funding under the Scheme is no longer available, I made arrangements to provide €190,000 to Justice for the Forgotten out of my Department's vote for 2009 to enable it to continue to operate for a further period. I understand that this funding will be sufficient to allow the group to continue to operate well into next year.