Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for Health the amount of funding that has been provided to the patient advocacy group Dignity4Patients for each of the past five years; the amount they it be provided with in 2012; and the amount of funding that has been requested by the group in each of these years. [37848/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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This year I approved a grant, on a once-off basis, of €69,000 from my Department's allocation of National Lottery funds to Dignity 4 Patients. The funding was to go towards the cost of providing an office, a website, a helpline and office administration for the organisation.

Dignity 4 Patients also received a grant in 2010 of almost €172,000 from my Department's National Lottery funds. This was given towards the cost of providing information and support to victims of abuse wishing to attend the Drogheda Review which completed its work last year.

The level of funding sought by the group from my Department's National Lottery funds in 2010 was almost €224,000 and almost €370,000 in 2011.

No funding was sought by the group or provided by the Department from National Lottery funds in the three years prior to 2010.

Applications for 2012 lottery funding will be accepted as is usual at the start of the year, however it must be stressed that lottery funding is once-off discretionary funding and is not intended to provide a source of ongoing revenue funding. The statutory agencies work to provide a regulated quality service with other agencies (both statutory and non-statutory as they judge it appropriate). This context provides the potential for a longer term source of funding for an organisation such as Dignity 4 Patients, working in a way that is integrated and effective in tandem with the statutory service providers. My Department has requested the Health Service Executive to reply directly to the Deputy giving details of funding provided to Dignity 4 Patients by the Executive.