Move to avoid duplicate funding

THE Department of Education and the HSE are cross-referencing funding requests from groups representing survivors of institutional abuse due to possible “duplicate funding”.

Internal documents obtained by the Irish Examiner show that the Department of Education wrote to the HSE earlier this year to check what money it had given to a specific group in order that both would not fund it for the same thing.

The department official wrote that Cork-based group Right of Place, which it has funded since 2001, sought funding for areas of expenditure the department had never previously funded. These included staff salaries, office rent, training and research.

The concerns were raised in the context of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s 2009 annual report, which highlighted a need to avoid any duplication of funding.

“It is the opinion of the department that to fund Right of Place in its current format could reasonably be construed as duplication of funding or certainly a blurring of the lines,” the letter said.

Right of Place has been granted €184,972 from the HSE to operate an outreach service and had sought a further €90,000 from the Department of Education.

An estimated €34 million was provided to groups aiding institutional abuse victims from 2001 to 2009.