Pat Rabbitte
Question:143 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the operation to date of the Residential Institutions Redress Board. [15745/03]
Written Answers. - Residential Institutions Redress Board.
The Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 was signed into Law by the President in April 2002. The Act provided for the establishment of both the Residential Institutions Redress Board and the Residential Institutions Review Committee. I can confirm that both the Redress Board and the Review Committee have been put in place and are fully operational.
Judge Seán O'Leary, a serving Circuit Court judge has been appointed chairperson of the redress board and four ordinary members of the board have also been appointed. The review committee is chaired by Mr. Justice Frank Murphy, a former judge of the Supreme Court and two other members have also been appointed. A total of 27 staff have been appointed to the redress board and review committee.
The Residential Institutions Redress Board is located at Block 5, Belfield Office Park, Beech Hill Road, Clonskeagh, Dublin 4. The review committee is located at Floor 1, Frederick House, 19 South Frederick Street, Dublin 2.
The provisions of the Act allow the board to make awards based on a lower threshold of proof than is required in taking a case through the courts. An applicant is expected to provide proof of their identity, that he or she was resident in an institution, thats/he was injured while so resident and that the injury is consistent with any alle gation of abuse that is alleged to have occurred while so resident. An applicant may accept or reject an award to him-her or may submit the award for a review to the review committee.
Application forms and a guide to the application process have been available from the board's office since 2 December 2002 and are also available from the board's website at www.rirb.ie.
The Residential Institutions Redress Board and the Residential Institutions Redress Review Committee are independent of my Department. However I understand that the board has received in excess of 1,200 application to date and I also understand that hearings have recently commenced. A number of interim awards have also been paid.