Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2014
1370. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the 13,000 plus potential applicants still eligible to apply for support or payments from Caranua have received sufficient information to ensure that people were not deterred from applying and were aware of how to apply as per the previous Minister's commitment to do so. [33907/14]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, my predecessor asked Caranua to keep the matter of reaching out to those former residents who had not applied under review so as to ensure the greatest level of uptake of the funding available. The Deputy will also be aware that there was a delay in processing applications, which arose due to the number of applications and calls received being higher than expected and the time taken to recruit staff. Caranua's four Application Advisors are in place since late May and my Department approved Caranua's request to engage an Agency to provide temporary additional resources to address the backlog.
Caranua has pursued a range of measures to increase awareness of its functions, including leaflet and poster campaigns including includes doctors' surgeries, health centres and other community based services, its website and ongoing contact with survivor support groups, its statutory partners, Irish welfare services and other community based and social services in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
