Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 April 2017
253. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of providing all survivors of sex abuse in schools with compensation in line with the O'Keeffe ruling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18051/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraChild protection has been a high priority for Government for many years and it is now current practice to review child protection measures regularly. As part of this on-going process, it is a criminal offence where a person fails to disclose to the police information in relation to certain serious offences, including sexual offences against children and vulnerable persons.
We have also introduced statutory vetting arrangements for people involved in working with children and vulnerable adults, including those working in schools. The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 was commenced on 29 April 2016.
The measures that have been taken to protect and safeguard children should ensure that the risk of sex abuse by people who come into contact with children in our schools is absolutely minimal.
Sadly, this couldn't be said in the past. I do not have data on the number of people who are survivors of sex abuse in our schools and am unable to provide the estimated cost of awarding each of these survivors with redress in line with that awarded as a result of the ECtHR judgement in the O'Keefe case.
The recent Comptroller and Auditor General's Special Report on the 'Cost of Child Abuse Inquiry and Redress' has shown there to be major problems associated with attempting to predict numbers in this regard. In the case of redress for residential abuse, the cost predicted by the then Fianna Fáil-led Government was €250 million but the final cost was, in fact, €1.5 billion.
