Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2016
237. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of cases and litigation that comes within the parameters of the O'Keeffe judgment; the implications of this for the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20632/16]
View answer239. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps taken by his Department to implement the O'Keeffe judgment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20634/16]
View answer240. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of persons who have been offered settlements by the State in relation to complaints of child sex abuse in schools in view of the O'Keeffe judgment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20635/16]
View answer243. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the State Claims Agency will contact all litigants who have discontinued their cases of school child sexual abuse advising them of the scheme of compensation as outlined in the updated action plan submitted to the Council of Europe in February 2016; if that correspondence will also clearly set out the right of the litigant to appeal the offer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20638/16]
View answer244. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if any action has been taken by his Department on foot of the submissions by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Child Law Clinic of University College Cork to the Council of Europe in relation to the Government's interpretation of the O'Keeffe judgment; in particular the requirement that a prior complaint of sex abuse must have been made in order for victims to be offered compensation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20639/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 237, 239, 240, 243 and 244 together.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment in the case of Louise O'Keeffe delivered on 28th January 2014, determined that there had been a violation by Ireland of Articles 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) and awarded the applicant €30,000 in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages and €85,000 in costs and expenses.
In its response to the judgment, the Government agreed in December 2014 that out of court settlements be offered in those extant cases of school child sexual abuse being brought against the State where the cases come within the terms of the ECtHR judgment and satisfy the Statute of Limitations. The State Claims Agency (SCA), who manage such cases on behalf of the State, was mandated to offer out of court settlements in current and future litigation where the circumstances of the cases come within the terms of the European Court judgment and are not statute barred. In this regard, the SCA has made settlement offers which have been accepted in 6 cases.
Subsequently, in July 2015, the Government approved proposals to offer ex-gratia payments up to a maximum of €84,000 to those who initiated legal proceedings in cases of school child sexual abuse against the State but who subsequently discontinued their claims against the State where, similarly, the circumstances of the claims come within the terms of the ECtHR judgment and where the claims were not statute barred prior to the proceedings being discontinued.
It was decided that such payments would be offered to those persons whose cases were not statute barred prior to their proceedings being discontinued and where the person can demonstrate that their circumstances involved sexual abuse of a school child by a primary or post-primary school employee in respect of whom there was a prior complaint of sexual abuse to a school authority (including an authority of a school in which the employee had previously worked) prior to the issue of the Department of Education guidelines on Child Protection to primary and post-primary schools in 1991 and 1992 respectively.
As noted in the Department's press release of 28th July, 2015 persons who believe that their cases come within the criteria can contact the SCA and provide supporting evidence. It is not possible to assess at this stage how many cases in this category will satisfy these criteria. Where there is a disagreement between the SCA and the individual as to whether their circumstances come within the terms of the ECtHR judgment, provision will be made for the application to be reviewed by an independent assessor. In offering these settlements, the State will not be covering the liabilities of the perpetrators, school managers or patrons or other co-defendants.
In terms of implementing the ECtHR judgement in the O'Keeffe case, Ireland is obliged to file bi-annual action plans with the Council of Europe outlining the steps being taken to implement the ECtHR judgment - these action plans are in the public domain and can be accessed on the Council of Europe's website. The next (the 5th) Action Plan is due to be submitted on 28th July 2016.
The submissions made by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Child Law Clinic of University College Cork to the Council of Europe were made under Rule 9 (2) of the Rules of the Committee of Ministers for the supervision of the execution of judgments and of the terms of friendly settlements. Rule 9 (2) states that 'The Committee of Ministers shall be entitled to consider any communication from non-governmental organisations, as well as national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, with regard to the execution of judgments under Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention. Ireland is not required to comment on Rule 9 (2) submissions and my Department was not required to file a response to these submissions.
