Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The Government is anxious to ensure the individuals affected and their families or their estates are repaid as quickly, efficiently and as fairly as possible. As the Deputy acknowledged in the number of questions he asked, this is a complex and mammoth task because we are talking about approximately 275,000 people. Clearly, the Statute of Limitations cannot apply to anybody who was not of sound mind, which would include many citizens in mental institutions, or perhaps intellectually disabled individuals. It is the intention to pay into the estates of individuals. However, considerable issues arise, including the administrative issue and the cost issue in that we are talking about a minimum of €500 million, although it may be substantially more than that.

For all these reasons and given that we have never gone down this road before in terms of the scale of what is involved, the Government felt, after a long discussion on this matter today, that the relevant Ministers together with the Attorney General should meet quickly — we will meet tomorrow — to look at the issues, including the possibility of a statutory scheme being put in place. Above all else, we want to avoid individuals having to take legal action to receive compensation if we can.

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