Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

The primary function of the redress board is to provide financial redress to persons who, as children, were abused while resident in industrial schools, reformatories or other institutions subject to State regulation or inspection. The closing date for receipt of applications was 15 December 2005 by which time the board had received 14,513 applications. The board has received a total of 14,549 applications (including 36 late applications accepted up to 31 December 2007).

Up to 3 November 2008, 12,280 applications were processed by the board. The overall average award from the inception of the scheme is €64,892. Awards are determined by the board having regard to the severity of the abuse, the severity of physical and psychological injury and the loss of opportunity resulting from the abuse. The level of awards range in value from €0 to €300,000.

Expenditure associated with the redress board to end 2007 was €745,591,963. Based on the total number of applications received, the final cost of the scheme may be in the region of €1.1 billion, including legal and administration costs. Any estimate of the final cost of the scheme at this point will be tentative as the board has more than 2,000 applications to process and the level of award provided in these remaining cases may vary substantially.

The final cost of the redress scheme must be viewed in the context of the Government's acceptance of its responsibilities in apologising to victims of abuse and the very substantial costs that would have been incurred had no such scheme been established, with cases processed in the normal manner through the courts. The scheme enables victims to obtain compensation for their injuries without having to face the trauma of pursuing their cases in court.

The Government in establishing the scheme considered it was the just and humane thing to do as the State was responsible for children that were placed in institutions by the courts and other public bodies. With more than 2,000 cases yet to be processed, it is difficult to say at this point when the board will complete its work. However, from experience, as a board generally clears between 200 to 220 cases per month, and is likely to have completed processing claims towards the end of 2009. While the processing of awards should be completed in 2009, there will be some residual work to be completed by the board in 2010.

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