Vol. 532 No. 2
85 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science the proposals he has for the establishment of a compensation body for those who suffered abuse in institutions for which the State had regulatory or supervisory responsibility; and when he expects the compensation body to be in operation. [6768/01]
The following are the main proposals for a compensation scheme for victims of abuse which have been agreed by the Government: (a) the scheme will compensate people who as children were victims of abuse while in the care of institutions in which they were resident and in respect of which State bodies had regulatory or supervisory functions; (b) "abuse" for the purpose of compensation is to be defined as in the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act, 2000, covering physical, sexual and emotional abuse; (c) the scheme is to be established under statute with priority to be given to enactment of the Bill with a view to its enactment before the summer recess, followed by immediate establishment of the compensation body; (d) the compensation scheme will remain open to receive claims for a period of three years from the establishment date; (e) the compensation awarding body will be composed of a chairperson who is a retired or serving senior judge and such number of ordinary members as will ensure the efficient discharge of its functions; (f) validation of claims by claimants to the compensation body will be conducted in a non-adversarial way, with inquiries confined to establishing essential facts from written records and further inquiry to be confined to oral examination of the claimant, combined with medical/psychiatric assessment; (g) compensation will be paid for: (i) current and subsisting damage caused by abuse, and (ii) past damage, from which the claimant has now recovered, where objectively it can be established that such damage exists or existed; (h) the legislation will provide detailed criteria for awards, including the amount of awards for different kinds of abuse and its affects; (i) compensation will be made directly to claimants, except in the case of claimants who are incapable of managing their affairs, in which case compensation will be paid to them through structured settlements in the event that the wards of court system cannot be adapted to accommodate their needs; (j) the compensation scheme will be a stand alone, statutory scheme for ex gratia payments to survivors of abuse.
As I stated earlier it is intended that the necessary legislation will be in place before the summer recess and the compensation awarding body will commence its work immediately.
