Departmental Funding

Tuesday, 16 January 2018

Questions (136)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

136. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the name and number of organisations here that are in receipt of funding from his Department which have expended resources seeking the repeal of the eighth amendment; the amount of funding these organisations have received from the State in the last five years; the amount of money they have spent on this particular campaign during that time; the number of organisations here that are in receipt of funding from his Department that have expended resources seeking the retention of the eighth amendment; the amount of funding these organisations have received from the State in the last five years; and the amount of money they have spent on this particular campaign during that time. [54767/17]

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Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

My Department is responsible for two votes - Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Vote 27 (International Cooperation) and administers a number of funding schemes including under Ireland's official overseas development programme, Irish Aid. My Department has no particular scheme to fund programmes or projects seeking either the repeal of the eighth amendment or its retention. It is not possible to readily identify organisations which are in receipt of funding from my Department for particular projects and which may also have expended other resources available to them from other sources in this area. However, I refer the Deputy to parliamentary question 51438/17 which outlines the funding provided by my Department under a range of headings including sexual reproductive health services, capacity building on human rights and global justice issues for primary school teachers, J1 Visa Guide and promotion of reconciliation and combating sectarianism in Northern Ireland. These groups have self-identified as seeking the repeal of the eighth amendment.