Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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228. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if Caranua has signed a memorandum of understanding with a service (details supplied); and if so, the terms of this memorandum of understanding, including any costs to the residential institutions statutory fund incurred as a result of this MOU. [20560/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As I have explained to the Deputy in response to previous Parliamentary Questions, Caranua is an independent statutory body established pursuant to the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 to support the needs of survivors of residential institutional child abuse. Administrative and operational issues such as those raised in the Deputy's question are day to day matters that are the responsibility of Caranua itself and I have no role in those matters.

I understand that, in late 2014, Caranua agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Towards Healing for the provision of counselling services to former residents who wish to continue receiving counselling with Towards Healing. The arrangement covers those former residents who are eligible for support from Caranua and who have received 80 counselling sessions and whose further counselling needs have been recommended by an independent review panel to be clinically appropriate. Caranua will pay Towards Healing the agreed costs of the counselling services received by eligible former residents. I understand, from enquiries made by my officials, that Caranua has made payments of €87,263.50 and €7,385 to Towards Healing in the years 2015 and 2016 respectively in relation to services provided under the MOU.