Mr. Ian Elliott:

These are all closed cases; they are not current. The majority of the individuals referred to as alleged perpetrators are deceased. I cannot stress enough the variable quality of the information that exists. In some cases, one has handwritten notes of a very limited nature. It is only through taking on further investigation that one gets an idea of what is being referred to. One of the issues that has come to light is the discovery of a very serious perpetrator on whom we did not have a file. It was a case that was discovered as a consequence of a victim coming forward and saying what had happened. We were not aware, within the organisation, that the individual in question was a perpetrator. A simple review of the paperwork is only part of the story.

I have already spoken to the board about the work that has to take place. The approach that I would like to follow - I would like to have the time to do it as well - is to formally interview a number of people who have memories and experience of those times and formally gather information from them, and add to that the victims' stories to put together a comprehensive knowledge of what took place. We know it is bad practice. We know there were situations that should have been responded to and were not responded to in a proper way, and although the perpetrators may be dead, the victims most certainly are not. Not all of the perpetrators are alive.

I do not believe that figure of 108 is a final figure. When we explore that further, the figure will probably rise quite considerably, and possibly as a consequence of what we have today, it will rise further.