Vol. 444 No. 7
46 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice the plans, if any, she has to make an increased special allocation to the Criminal Injuries Tribunal to help reduce the arrears of finalised claims which cannot be paid due to lack of resources.
At the outset I want to say that I am fully committed to continuing and expanding a range of services to help victims of crime. My policy in this area is set out in the recently published policy document The Management of Offenders — A Five Year Plan.
I indicated, when publishing the plan, that I intended to seek an additional £7.5 million over a period of time to clear arrears of awards made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal. I will be taking this matter up with the Minister for Finance in the context of my Department's Estimates for 1995 and subsequent years. Furthermore, as I indicated in my reply to Question No. 43 on 27 April, 1994, if savings arise elsewhere in the Department of Justice Vote and it is possible for me to divert these savings towards the elimination of arrears of compensation, I shall be happy to do so.
