There are 128 institutions listed in the Schedule to the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 and in respect of which former residents of these institutions, who suffered abuse, may apply for redress to the redress board. When that legislation was being enacted, it was considered possible that the Schedule may not cover all relevant institutions and, in order to ensure that institutions that may be identified at a later stage could be subsequently added to the Schedule, the provisions outlined in Section 4 were included in the Act. Section 4 of the Act allows that additional institutions that are identified as reformatory schools, industrial schools, orphanages, children's homes and special schools, in respect of which a public body had a regulatory or inspection function, can be added to the Schedule.
My Department has received correspondence from both individuals and survivor groups identifying a number of additional institutions that may be eligible for inclusion in the Schedule. Discussions have taken place between my Department and other Departments that may have provided a regulatory function in the operation of these facilities in order to ascertain whether these institutions are in fact eligible for inclusion. It is my intention that a list of additional institutions will be brought before both Houses of the Oireachtas as soon as the verification process is completed.