Vol. 533 No. 3
320 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will establish a compensation tribunal for those who were sexually abused while attending regular primary and secondary day schools; if this tribunal can be established without further delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8673/01]
As the Deputy may know, the Government has recently decided in principle to establish a body to compensate those persons who, as children, were abused in institutions in which they were resident and for which the State had significant regulatory or supervisory responsibility. This compensation process will not cover those persons who may have been abused while attending day schools.
The Government's decision to provide for this particular type of compensation scheme is based upon the fact that the children concerned were separated from their parents and therefore did not have the care and protection which children in the care of their parents enjoy. They relied to a significant extent on public bodies to protect them and it is now all too clear that, notwithstanding that duty, children were abused. These considerations do not apply to children who were resident with their families while at school and so the decision to set up a compensation body does not extend to them.
The Government has already provided an alternative means of redress for any person who suffered sexual abuse in the past. The recent amendment to the Statute of Limitations Act, passed in June 2000, recognises that persons who suffered sexual abuse in the past may not have been in a position, due to the abuse suffered, to take legal action against the abuser. Normally a person would only have three years to bring such an action. The Act now provides that the normal period of three years within which a person can bring an action will not apply where a person is suffering from such a disability.
The Act also recognises that some persons who suffered sexual abuse may have been previously advised that their claims were statute barred. To assist such persons in bringing a claim, the Act provided for a special one year window, from June 2000 to June of this year, to allow such persons to commence actions against their abusers.
