The One in Four group, which is run by and assists people who have been sexually abused, has defended the projected annual cost of salaries for its seven core staff members for this year.
It said the the figure of €342,000, including PRSI and pensions, was comparable with similar agencies such as the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) and the National Counselling Service (NCS).
Figures for 13 staff at the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre as of October 1st 2002 came to a total of €628,890, while figures for 14 staff at the National Counselling Service over the same period came to €729,150.
Ms Thérèse Gaynor, clinical director at One in Four, said the demand for their services was "phenomenal" and she would argue that there was probably a need for more than just the three agencies. "It's about giving people choice and about meeting the need out there."
She said it would be inaccurate to compare One in Four with support groups such as Right of Place in Cork or Aislinn in Dublin, with which it and its costings had been compared in some media. Unlike those support groups, One in Four was an agency which employed therapists and counsellors to treat victims of abuse, as did the DRCC and the NCS.
It also supplied services which were provided by those support groups as well, such as advocacy and campaigning services for victims.
In its submission to the Department of Health and Children, One in Four projected the cost of salaries for its seven core staff at €1.068 million over the next three years. It includes annual salary increases of four per cent. It does not include additional staff expenses, including training, estimated at a further €240,000 over the three years.
The figures come from the One in Four's Three-Year Plan submitted to the Department of Health and Children. It estimated One in Four's costs for the three-year period, including salaries, renting of premises, running costs etc, at €1.7 million.
The rates for its seven staff are set out as follows: Director (currently Mr Colm O'Gorman), €80,000 per annum; office manager, €35,000 per annum; receptionist/PA €25,000 per annum. The salary for a therapy co-ordinator is given at €45,000 per annum, while two counsellors are to receive €35,000 each annually. So too will an advocacy worker. Additional payments of €52,000 for the seven core staff, in PRSI & pension costs per year, brings that particular total over the three years to €162,948.
Staff rates at the NCS range from €59,312 to €36,438, with its clinical director receiving up to €72,091, and its director up to €82,934. Rates at the DRCC range from €57,584 to €35,378, with its clinical director receiving up to €72,091.
Mr Noel Barry, chairman of Right of Place group has said he received a salary of €314.37 a week "from a FAS scheme." The group received IR£1.1 million in State grants for a purpose-built complex in Cork, and an estimated €320,000 this year from the State. Ms Christine Buckley of the Aislinn Centre said that this year its three staff, including its director, received €32,000.
