My Department supports organisations in the voluntary sector that are engaged in the delivery of advice and support services to vulnerable Irish people living abroad. Most of my Department's expenditure is disbursed in grants from the DION fund, through which we support services of benefit to our community in Britain who may be at risk of social exclusion.
Since 2001, DION grants have been made to support the salaries of the staff of the Safe Home Programme Limited, a registered charity which rents its premises from Mulranny Day Centre Housing Limited, a voluntary housing body. My Department's grants have been towards salary costs only and we own no buildings in the complex where the offices of the Safe Home Programme Limited are located.
The details of grants extended by my Department to the Safe Home Programme Limited are as follows: in 2003, a total of €82,530; in 2004, a total of €157,000; and in 2005, a total of €184,743. I understand that DION grants of €63,487 and €82,500 were paid to the Safe Home Programme Limited in 2001 and 2002 respectively, when the DION fund was managed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I can confirm that regular reports have been received concerning the annual activities of the Safe Home Programme Limited during the time that they have received DION funding.
Grants from my Department to the Safe Home Programme Limited fund the salaries and related costs of its four posts, namely, a programme director — co-ordinator, an administrator and two development workers. In this way, my Department supports the Safe Home Programme Limited in its work in the provision of information and advice to older Irish emigrants, many of whom are resident in Britain, who are considering a return to Ireland. The Safe Home Programme Limited also liaises with individual voluntary housing bodies and local authorities throughout Ireland on accommodation for elderly emigrants returning to Ireland.
