Vol. 535 No. 2
117 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science when the Bill to provide for a compensation scheme for victims of abuse, while in the care of institutions for which the State had regulatory or supervisory functions, will be circulated; the estimated number of claimants; and the estimated cost of the compensation scheme. [12107/01]
My officials are currently working with officials of the Attorney General's office on the drafting of a Bill which will establish the compensation scheme. It is my intention that this Bill should be published in the coming weeks and enacted before the summer recess.
It is not possible at this time to estimate accurately.the number of claimants who may wish to avail of the compensation scheme. However, in this context it should be noted that approximately 1,000 people have now initiated legal proceedings against the State and former owners or managers of institutions in respect of claims of physical and/or sexual abuse.
Given the difficulty in assessing the overall number of claimants, there is a clear difficulty in estimating the total cost of the scheme, especially given the wide variation in the kind of injuries which may have been suffered by claimants and the very limited precedents from the courts.
