Vol. 560 No. 1
525 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Education and Science the reasons funding has not been given to the Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International in view of an application being submitted by that organisation. [2071/03]
The group, Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International, has made an application for funding to my Department. This group was established in the United Kingdom in 2002. Funding is provided by my Department to a number of survivor groups both in this country and the United Kingdom. This funding is allocated for the provision of an information service for the survivors of institutional abuse. An outreach service based in the United Kingdom has been established in five Irish centres within the last two years. These centres provide information to survivors based in the United Kingdom on a variety of issues including counselling, housing, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and the Residential Institutions Redress Board.
It is my view that any further funding available should be directed towards the further development of the outreach service in the United Kingdom. Officials from my Department met with two representatives from the Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International on 8 October 2002 and advised them that no funding would be allocated to new survivor groups in the United Kingdom.
