Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 28 Nov 2000

Vol. 526 No. 6

Written Answers. - Victims of Abuse.

John McGuinness

Ceist:

412 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason day pupils who were sexually abused are being excluded from a hearing at the commission for victims of abuse; and if he will outline the financial support which is available to victims for legal costs, medical advice and therapy to assist them in their preparation for the commission. [27643/00]

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods)

Any person who was abused as a child in an institution may give evidence to either the confidential or investigation committee of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. This includes children who were day pupils in primary and post primary schools.

As Minister, I have a responsibility under the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act, 2000, to put in place a scheme relating to expenses. Although it is not necessary that individual victims of abuse should be legally represented when they give evidence to the commission, I accept that there are many victims who would welcome the support of a legal representative. For that reason, my Department is, together with the Attorney General's office, involved in preparing a scheme to meet the legal expenses of those who attend the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and who want legal representation. I regret that there have been significant difficulty in reaching agreement with the legal profession on a scheme, of which there have so far been two separate proposals by my Department and the Attorney General's office and one by the commission. Devising a workable scheme remains a high priority for me.

As regards medical support issues, the Department of Health and Children has, through the health board structure, put in place a nationwide system of counsellors to assist and support victims of abuse, not just to aid them in attending the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse but also for more general and long-term support.

Finally, 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. The basis for this decision is 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.