Limerick East): Yesterday I announced that I was making available £907,000 for rape crisis and sexual abuse counselling centres and services throughout the country. This is an increase of £250,000 or 38 per cent on the level of funding provided in 1994. A breakdown of the funding to be made available to each centre is given in the table.
I am providing £20,000 each to the North-Eastern Health Board and the North-Western Health Board in whose areas there are at present no rape crisis or counselling centres to assist with the establishment of centres/services in these areas. This will implement one of the recommendations of the 1993 report of the Second Commission on the Status of Women that there should be a rape crisis centre in each health board area. Funding is also being made available towards the establishment of a new centre in Athlone.
Additional funding is provided for the rape crisis/sexual abuse counselling centres in Limerick, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Kilkenny, Clonmel, Kerry, Mayo and in Dublin where the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and three Eastern Health Board counselling centres operate.