Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 11 Jun 2003

Vol. 568 No. 2

Written Answers. - Residential Institutions Redress Board.

Pat Rabbitte

Ceist:

148 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Education and Science the procedures in place for making all reasonable efforts to ensure through advertisements, direct correspondence and the like, both within the State and in other jurisdictions, that the attention of former residents of institutions is drawn to the Residential Institutions Redress Board and its functions; the procedures in place for sanctioning and monitoring the costs of the board incurred in the administration of the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002; if his Department or the board has received complaints relating either to the adequacy of those efforts or control of those costs; if so, the outcome of those complaints; and if there has been a review of or change to those procedures. [16228/03]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. N. Dempsey)

The Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 was signed into law by the President in April 2002. The Act provided for the establishment of both the Residential Institutions Redress Board and the Residential Institutions Redress Review Committee. I can confirm that both the redress board and the review committee have been put in place and are fully operational.

Following the establishment of the redress board, the board undertook an advertisement campaign in both Ireland and Great Britain. In Ireland, the board's campaign was by means of television, radio and newspaper advertisements, and in Britain the board placed advertisements in a number of newspapers. The board's advertisement campaign is ongoing and will be extended to other jurisdictions during the lifetime of the board. Information in relation to the redress board and the review committee is also available from the support groups and the National Office for Victims of Abuse, 19 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin 7, and the outreach services in Great Britain. The board also has information available on its web site at www.rirb.ie.

All costs associated with the redress board are subject to approval from this Department and from the Department of Finance and audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General. My Department has not received any complaints of the type referred to by the Deputy. As the redress board is an independent body, I am unaware whether it has received any such complaints.