Vol. 441 No. 3
107 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Health whether the recent allocations to the rape crisis and sexual abuse treatment centres are sufficient to meet the ongoing requirements of the centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Rape Crisis Centres throughout the country provide valuable support and counselling to victims of rape and sexual abuse in conjunction with services provided by the Health Boards. I have recently made allocations for 1994 to these centres and services from the health allocation of the national lottery. The total sum of £458,000 which I have made available in 1994 represents an increase of 77 per cent on funding allocated from the national lottery for rape and sexual abuse counselling in 1993. In most cases additional funding will also be made available to the rape crisis centres by the Health Boards from their allocations.
I am satisfied that this level of funding is sufficient to meet the on-going requirements of the rape crisis and counselling centres throughout the country.
