The Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 provides that a person, who as a child was resident in one of the institutions named in the schedule to the Act, and who has or has had injuries that are consistent with abuse received while so resident, can make an application for financial redress to the Residential Institutions Redress Board.
My Department maintains records on the former residents of some 59 industrial and reformatory schools who were placed there by way of a Court Hearing under the 1908 Children Act. Many children were placed in the schools by alternative means such as a health authority referrral or voluntary placement. In such instances, my Department generally does not hold any information on such former residents.
In a limited number of cases, the name of a resident, who was placed voluntarily in the school, may appear on an archive list of residents provided by the school. In most cases, the name appears with no other identifying information so it is impossible to verify with any degree of certainty that the name refers to an individual resident.
The Residential Institutions Redress Board is an entirely independent statutory body and it is a matter for the redress board to determine its requirements as to what is acceptable as evidence of residency in an institution.
