I want to thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for having allowed this matter be discussed this afternoon. Indeed I might also thank the Minister for Health for taking the question. As the Minister will be aware, it is a matter of some urgency that the difficulties encountered vis-à-vis the funding of the Aoibhneas refuge be resolved quickly. Indeed the degree of procrastination, delay and reluctance to deal with the issue on the part of the Eastern Health Board and some departmental officials has been quite extraordinary.
The refuge opened in July 1988 — when they underwent some training — and established themselves early in 1989. Since then a lot of invaluable work has been undertaken. In July 1989 they applied for funds from the national lottery. They received a reply shortly after Christmas last to the effect that no funding was available. The Eastern Health Board said they would review the question of funding in the context of the needs, as they saw them, saying that they would include the Aoibhneas refuge as part of that review. Indeed, to give the Eastern Health Board their due, they did arrange for the extension of the social employment scheme to June 1990 in order to facilitate that review. Nonetheless the projected date for the cessation of the scheme was Friday, 8 June 1990. It was not until after 6 p.m. on Thursday, 7 June, that the Aoibhneas refuge received notice that they were to receive £25,000; despite the fact that they had sought £80,000 for the full year, they were being offered £25,000 for six months. The Eastern Health Board know that is an inadequate sum of money for their purposes. I arranged, through the Minister, that the refuge group would meet officials of his Department. Therefore, his Department are also aware of the case that Aoibhneas are making for additional funding.
There is an urgent need for funding. As I have said, the refuge has been promised £25,000; in order to allow them continue in existence for another six months they need an additional £12,000. Given the size of the budget of the Department of Health, that represents a drop in the ocean. Its importance to the refuge, to the women and children dependent on it, is incalculable. I would make the point that if the Minister is not prepared to assist Aoibhneas but does intend to assist women, the subject of violence in the home, he will simply be deferring payment to some other category. Quite frankly, I consider that would be a false saving.
I might add that it is the only refuge on the north side of the city which deals with this problem. They get referrals from as far afield as Kildare, Louth and Meath and have never turned anybody away from their door. They are conscious that, in many cases, it could be a matter of life and death for the women and children who come to them. Indeed such women only leave the home to seek refuge as a last resort, when they have reached a point at which they are in fear of their lives or those of their children.
The Aoibhneas accommodation is contained within a three-bedroomed flat in Ballymun Tower, consisting of three bedrooms, one of which has to be used as an office, a small kitchen and bathroom. There is no play area for the children. Given the nature of the problem mothers are reluctant to allow their children down into the open areas around the flats for fear of repercussions that might emanate from their husbands or other sources in relation to the children. Therefore, it will be readily appreciated that the accommodation is tiny. There are occasions when the refuge has to cater for up to five families, with as many as 20 children staying there, with an average of three families arriving each evening at their door. If the refuge closes these women and children will have to be catered for somewhere. If the Department of Health do not provide the necessary money to maintain the Aoibhneas refuge open, then they have an obligation to provide an alternative service. I would argue that failure to provide the mere £12,000 being sought for six months would be a very false economy.
If the Minister does not provide that £12,000, or an alternative service — since, in addition, the existing service on the south side of the city is grossly overcrowded — the option for these women and children will be to remain in their homes in dangerous circumstances or, alternatively, simply walk the streets; there will be no other option available to them.
I should like to say something about the staff at the Aoibhneas refuge who have done such a remarkable job since it opened. The project workers have been employed under the provisions of the social employment scheme and receive £65 a week. For that amount they are supposed to work 20 hours a week but, of course, work much longer hours. The reality is that they provide a 24-hour service daily, 365 days a year which includes weekends, bank holidays, Christmas-time, Easter, you name it, their service is available. They have shown their commitment to Aoibhneas and the women in need of that refuge. Surely they should be allowed continue their work? The fact that so many people use it clearly shows there is a need and demand for their services. Unfortunately, on account of a variety of other social factors, it is unlikely there will be any decline in the demand for their services in the immediate future.
I would emphasise that the service is provided for the north city, not merely for Ballymun. Failure to provide the relatively small amount they need in order to continue in operation for the next six months would be a betrayal of the staff who have worked so hard for it. Indeed it would be an even greater betrayal of the innocent victims of some of the gravest social problems of our time.
In summary I want to put three questions to the Minister. The Aoibhneas refuge urgently need £12,000. The Eastern Health Board have indicated they are prepared to give £25,000, leaving this £12,000 shortfall. I am asking the Minister for Health to intervene directly, to locate somewhere — at the bottom end of some budget — that £12,000 which could be retrieved and paid in order to assist this refuge over the next six months. I am also asking the Minister to approach the Eastern Health Board, requesting them to pay the £25,000 in a lump sum so that the Aoibhneas refuge management committee will be enabled to plan for services they will provide over the next six months so that they are not getting a few pounds now and a few pounds again and, therefore, not knowing from one week to the next whether they will have enough money to pay and provide the other services that have to be paid for.
Finally, I ask the Minister to initiate discussions between his Department, the Eastern Health Board and the management committee of Aoibhneas to look at the service that is being provided; how it could be extended in its current terms and also to look at the wider question of how a more adequate service can be provided for the north side of the city. Aoibhneas, by establishing themselves on a voluntary basis, have established that the need exists. Women and children who previously had no place to go now have somewhere to go. We know from experience in other areas that there is a vast problem in society which is not being adequately catered for.
Again, the three points I wish to put to the Minister are first, £12,000 is needed immediately, which is a tiny sum of money; second, the payment of £25,000 by the Eastern Health Board to Aoibhneas and, third, that there be discussions between the Department, the health board and Aoibhneas on the existing refuge and its development and the provision of a more adequate service on the north side of the city.
