Ulster Unionist Leader, Mike Nesbitt MLA, has highlighted the threat to the future of a number of victims and survivors support groups due to the failure of the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to secure adequate finance for the much-heralded but under-funded Victims and Survivors Service (VSS).
The Strangford MLA said:
"I have been advocating on behalf of a number of groups, not least Ards Phoenix in my own constituency of Strangford, who find themselves in the ridiculous position of ticking all the boxes required to qualify for financial support, only to be told that because of cutbacks, there is no money in the kitty.
"OFMDFM made much of the fact that they secured £1.3m in additional funds from the last Monitoring Round, when unused monies from other departments are available for redistribution but it is clear from the answer I have just received from Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness that that extra money is to be spent on individuals not groups.
"The reply to my Assembly Question quantifies £469,900 of funding that has been applied for by groups, but also makes clear individuals remain the priority.
"The fact is OFMDFM made a half-hearted attempt to secure a second pot of money from October Monitoring, which failed and with it went the chance of proper funding for groups.
"To leave victims groups high and dry like this is obscene. They had a reasonable expectation that if they jumped the hoops to qualify for financial support, and they have, then funding would be there for them. At the last moment, and during the course of a financial year, OFMDFM have moved the goalposts.
"This is yet another reason why the budget needs a radical rethink, including being properly aligned to the Programme for Government. We need to agree priorities, commit funding to them and then stick with those agreements. Otherwise we have the sort of financial omnishambles that disadvantages the already disadvantaged.
"I have to say, this latest revelation makes me question the extent to which the DUP and Sinn Fein see a future for these self-help groups that have been the only constant source of support for Troubles victims down the years."