Equality: The budget for equality support measures has been cut for the second year running by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The Equality Authority, which promotes the implementation of equality legislation, has had its grant cut in real terms. While the reduction this year is one of only €5,000, inflation means that the overall funding cut will amount to about 2.5 per cent. This follows a cut of 5 per cent last year.
Various monitoring and consultative committees on equality have seen their budgets slashed, but none so much as the Anti-Racism Awareness Campaign, the allocation to which is cut by 76 per cent. This follows a cut of 63 per cent last year.
Another victim of the cuts is Status of People with Disabilities, which sees last year's cut of 44 per cent followed by a cut this year of 19 per cent. The Equality Tribunal, which adjudicates on claims of discrimination, sees its budget increased by 3 per cent, just ahead of inflation. It was cut last year by 4 per cent.
In his statement, the Minister, Mr McDowell, emphasised the money allocated to the Department's childcare programme. This stands at €68.2 million, the same as last year.
The Legal Aid Board receives an increase of 5 per cent. This follows a cut last year and a growth in waiting lists around the State.
The allocation for the criminal legal aid scheme is up by 12 per cent. However, funding for the voluntary Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) has been cut for the second year running, this time by 4 per cent.
Victim support and crime prevention measures are also cut, by 4 and 2 per cent, respectively. This has been condemned by the Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr John Deasy, who said that the victims of crime were the big losers in this year's Estimates.