I welcome the Minister. He will be aware that his predecessor introduced the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002, prior to the election. Part of the function of that legislation was the establishment of a redress board, the function of which will be to conduct hearings of the people who were abused in institutions and schools and allocate them compensation on the basis of the case they make and the suffering they experienced.
Hardly a day goes by in which we do not hear another horror story about some aspect of the abuse perpetrated against the children of the nation in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s until the abolition of the industrial and reformatory schools in 1970. Very little has been done to redress the issue and try to bring some form of closure to the sufferings experienced by the young people who were abused, many of whom are old or in ill health.
What progress has been made with regard to the redress board? Have all its members been appointed and will additional members be appointed? What is it doing now? Has it secured premises and, if so, are they up and running? When will its funding, which will be substantial given the large numbers of people who have already indicated their intention to come forward, be allocated? The way in which the funding is made available is a key issue. When will the hearings take place? When will the advertisements be placed? I presume advertisements will be placed in the national media asking people who have been subjected to abuse, as defined in the legislation, to come forward and present their cases to the board in order that awards can be made on the basis of such hearings. My concern is that there is still no sign of action. The sooner we deal with this matter, which is within the jurisdiction of the Minister, the better. What is he doing about it?
On a related issue, I recall complaints being made in the intense debates during the passage of the legislation through the Seanad that the list of institutions prescribed for the Act and included in the Schedule was far from comprehensive and that other areas should have been included. I was given to understand that this list would be drawn up and appended to the legislation or made available in some other form. There is provision in the Act for additional institutions which may be put on the list at the behest of the Minister and I would like to know what the Minister has done or is doing in that regard. At that time I wanted Bethany Home added to the list and I put down a question and received a reply to the effect that an institution of that nature could be added when identified. I want to know if that will happen in this case and how the additional list of institutions will be made available.
The legislation is important, dealing with one of the most critical issues in our history and with something we swept under the carpet for far too long. It is now being covered by legislation which we have brought forward and it is important that we expedite it quickly.
