Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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32. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his Department's implementation in relation to the O'Keeffe Ruling. [28334/16]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister outline his Department's implementation of the O'Keeffe judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, in respect of child sex abuse?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The ECHR judgment in the case of Ms Louise O'Keeffe delivered on 28 January 2014 determined that there had been a violation by Ireland of certain articles of the convention and awarded the applicant €30,000 in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages and €85,000 in costs and expenses.

The Government agreed in December 2014 that out-of-court settlements be offered in those extant cases of school child sexual abuse being brought against the State where the cases came within the terms of the ECHR judgment and satisfied the Statute of Limitations. In this regard, the State Claims Agency, SCA, which manages such cases on behalf of the State, has made settlement offers, which have been accepted in six cases. In July 2015, the Government approved proposals to offer ex gratiapayments up to a maximum of €84,000 to those who initiated legal proceedings in such cases against the State but who subsequently discontinued their claims against the State where, similarly, the circumstances of the claims came within the terms of the ECHR judgment and where the claims were not statute barred prior to the proceedings being discontinued.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

Persons who believe that their cases come within the criteria can contact the SCA and provide supporting evidence. Where there is a disagreement between the SCA and the individual as to whether their circumstances come within the terms of the ECHR judgment, provision will be made for the application to be reviewed by an independent assessor.

As a result of the ECHR's judgment in January 2014, the Government provides bi-annual action plans or updates to the Council of Europe on developments. The fifth such action plan was lodged in July this year. These reports include the progress by the State in reviewing and, where necessary, updating child protection procedures in our school system to ensure that this generation of children have the benefit of the best child protection measures. The action plans also provide details of ex gratiapayments made to people who suffered abuse in the Irish school system in previous decades and who come within the terms of the O'Keeffe ruling.