Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to make an opening statement on the Comptroller and Auditor General's special report and the annual accounts of Caranua. The Department has also provided the committee with briefing material in advance of the meeting.

Special report No. 96 is a welcome overview of matters pertaining to the response to the terrible abuse of children that took place in industrial schools and similar residential institutions. It summarises the position on the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and the Residential Institutions Redress Board. Both bodies have almost completed their work and will be dissolved in the near future. The report also summarises other redress-related expenditure and provides a comprehensive summary of how the costs of the various components of redress have been funded, including the contribution being made by the religious congregations that managed many of the institutions.

The report covers the period to the end of December 2015. There have been developments since, particularly in terms of the contributions of cash and property and also in relation to expenditure. Since January 2016, a further €12.4 million in cash contributions has been received under the 2009 voluntary offers from religious congregations. In addition, eight further property transfers have now been fully completed, four under the 2002 indemnity agreement and four under the 2009 voluntary offers. The Department was advised earlier this week that one of these property transfers had been completed. This information was received after the briefing note and my initial opening statement was provided for the committee.

Projected expenditure on redress is expected to reach €1.5 billion, of which over €1.44 billion has been expended to date. The bulk of this expenditure, some €1.24 billion, relates to the redress scheme operated by the Residential Institutions Redress Board. This expenditure is in the forecasted range as set out in previous reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Under the scheme which was established in 2002, some 15,600 awards have been made, with an average figure of €62,250 per recipient.