Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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312. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the procurement process undertaken to appoint an organisation (details supplied) to provide independent advocacy services to assist individual survivors of residential institutional abuse; if no procurement process was undertaken, the reasons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22847/24]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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313. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the resources allocated to a company to provide independent advocacy services to assist individual survivors of residential institutional abuse (details supplied); the duration of the contract; the number of additional staff to be employed by the company and the areas to which they will be allocated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22851/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 312 and 313 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, in June 2023 Government approved the delivery of a package of ongoing supports to survivors of abuse in residential institutions, including supports relating to health, education and advocacy. The development of this package of supports was informed by a consultation process with survivors and survivor groups, including a survivor-led Consultative Forum.

The report of the Consultative Forum noted the difficulties many survivors perceive in engaging with and accessing public services, and identified a pressing need for information, support and advocacy services for survivors to assist them in engaging with and accessing relevant services and supports, in areas such as health, housing and social welfare.

In November 2023 the Department entered into a grant funding arrangement with Sage Advocacy, an independent advocacy organisation with a strong track record in providing advocacy supports to vulnerable adults, older people and healthcare patients, to develop such a service for survivors. This arrangement is underpinned by a detailed grant agreement and is subject to review in 2026 to assess the ongoing necessity, efficiency and effectiveness of the service. This evaluation will inform decisions relating to the potential extension of the arrangement beyond 2026.

Some €997,000 has been allocated to Sage Advocacy in 2024 to roll out and deliver the service. This includes staffing, training, legal and service delivery costs. To date, Sage Advocacy has recruited nine staff to deliver the service. These new staff include a Project Manager, five Regional Advocates, who are located around the country, Legal Support and two Information and Support staff. Recruitment of a further Regional Advocate is ongoing.

It should be noted that the arrangement also draws upon Sage Advocacy’s existing staffing resources, including the CEO, Assistant CEO (Case Management), Manager Information and Support Services, members of the Case Management and Service Management Groups, Information and Finance resources, Information Systems co-ordinators and all Regional Advocates.

The Department considered a number of options for the delivery of this service before entering into the grant-funding arrangement with Sage Advocacy. As there is a very limited number of providers with the experience and expertise required to provide such a specialised service, and the ability to roll out such a service in the timeframe required, it was not practical to engage a service provider through an open procurement process. Therefore, it was considered that engaging a service provider through a grant-funding arrangement would be the most practical and effective approach.