Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2013
205. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will examine the possibility of bringing the pension entitlements of those who received redress from the Residential Institutions Redress Board in line with those included in the proposed redress scheme for survivors of the Magdalen laundries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33069/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Residential Institutions Redress Board provides compensation to those who suffered abuse as children in residential institutions. The independent Board makes awards in accordance with the framework set out in Towards Redress and Recovery, the report of the independent compensation advisory committee which advised on the appropriate levels of compensation. By the end of 2012, the Board had made 14,378 awards with an average award value of €62,860 and the largest being €300,500, resulting in an overall cost of the Redress Scheme of €1.1 billion. These arrangements have provided survivors of institutional child abuse with a mechanism by which they could obtain fair and reasonable financial compensation for abuses suffered, without the necessity to pursue long and often traumatic cases via the court system. In addition survivors can avail of the national counselling service and the Origins family tracing service. Conscious that many survivors continue to suffer the effects of the abuse they suffered as innocent children and in keeping with the unanimous Dáil motion, the Government agreed to establish the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund to utilise the €110 million cash contributions, pledged by the congregations, to support the needs of survivors. Supports across a range of services, including mental health services, health and personal social services, education and housing services will be available. The Board of the Fund held its inaugural meeting on 27th March and has commenced work on the arrangements to be put in place for the operation of the Fund. I believe that these measures provide a comprehensive response to institutional child abuse and I have no plans to introduce any additional measures.
