The Victims of Crime Fund provides funding to partner organisations delivering services to multiple victim cohorts; including victims of sexual exploitation, violent crime and human trafficking. Funding is allocated on the basis of services provided and victim needs, rather than by reference to a specific offence category. The funding enables the provision of services supporting victims at different stages of the criminal justice system. This includes the provision of emotional and practical support, information and advice on the rights of victims, court accompaniment services, specialised counselling services, helplines and accompaniment to Garda interviews for those who have experienced traumatic incidents; including victims of trafficking.
As a result, it is not possible to provide an itemised breakdown of expenditure attributable solely to human trafficking for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, nor to disaggregate funding by offence type across civil society organisations, academic institutions, training providers or service providers. In addition, a number of actions relevant to combating human trafficking, including training, awareness-raising, operational activity and international engagement, are delivered within the existing budgets of statutory bodies such as An Garda Síochána, the HSE, Tusla and other Departments.
Funding under the Victims of Crime Fund is awarded through an open, transparent and competitive application process. Applications are assessed against set criteria, including governance standards, service delivery capacity, value for money and alignment with Government priorities. Grant allocations are published annually, and funded organisations are subject to rigorous reporting, monitoring and audit requirements.
