Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 319: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if there was a scheme administered by the Department of Health up to 2008 which allowed survivors of institutional abuse to travel to Ireland for a holiday; the success of this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39158/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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During 2004 and 2005, the Department of Health and Children (DOHC) provided funding for a support network and accommodation service (Avoca House) administered by SOCA UK (Survivors of Child Abuse UK), a voluntary organisation and registered charity in Ireland. This service offered a safe and comfortable environment for survivors of institutional abuse visiting Ireland to attend to matters related to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, the Residential Institutions Redress Board or for those visiting the Barnardos family tracing service. Avoca House also offered accommodation for survivors who wished to revisit the Industrial School in which they had been detained within the blin Region. The premises was not for holiday use.

Responsibility for this service transferred to the Health Service Executive following its establishment.