Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 8, between lines 40 and 41, to insert the following:

"(i) make arrangements with persons, whether or not they are resident in the State, for the provision of an approved one off payment from the Fund, if requested,".

The Minister will agree that I am being consistent in bringing forward this amendment which has been suggested to me by persons who have been through the redress process. The argument which we have gone through on Committee Stage is essentially that the people concerned should be allowed to decide for themselves how they will use a payment received from the fund. The Minister referred at the committee to the specific purpose for which the fund was being established. However, many of the people to whom I spoke felt very strongly that the decision should be theirs and that the availability of a once-off lump sum payment would allow survivors the choice and opportunity to spend their compensation as they saw fit, whether on counselling, education or otherwise. They are very much opposed to the State asserting its power by demanding they must operate within the parameters of the fund. Rather than having to use the money for counselling, as prescribed by the State, people who have been through the process, particularly those living abroad, are strongly of the view that there should be more flexible access to moneys.

The Minister referred to a figure of €7,300 when he broke down the fund. He argued that the fund was separate from the redress process as its purpose was to provide supports for former residents of the residential institutions. The survivors argue that they should be free to choose how they spend moneys from the fund.

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