asked the Minister for Justice if, in view of the invaluable work being done by the Irish Association for Victim Support and that there are now 100,000 crime victims in this country, he will increase the reduced allocation for this association from £8,000 in the Revised Estimates to allow the association to deal more effectively with the ever increasing number of referrals by the Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Irish Association for Victim Support.
63.
The Irish Association for Victim Support is to be commended as an organisation for providing, on a voluntary basis, a variety of support services for the victims of crime and I fully support this work. I regard the £8,000 being provided by the State this year as a token of this support, as indeed the £10,000 provided last year. The main contribution of the association must consist of the voluntary efforts of its membership.
The amount to be provided for any service in the Estimates for any year is decided on the basis of the requirements of the particular service, the requirement for other services and the overall budgetary position. While we would all like to be in a position to give the association a bigger subvention, I consider that, having regard to these criteria, the provision for 1987 is appropriate. As to the number of crime victims in the country I am not in a position to accept or reject the Deputy's estimate without an unwarranted expenditure of resources.