Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

Waivers are a common feature of most redress schemes. The waiver to which the Senator makes specific reference in amendment No. 6 relates to a scheme, Caranua, that was established separately and is no longer in operation. There is not a specific reference to the waivers because some people had waivers and others did not. I fully appreciate the Senator's point that a lot of people had them. Waivers are put in place because redress schemes are intended to be easily accessible for people. I appreciate this has not always been the case but the intention is to ensure people do not have go through a legal process, which is often complex and challenging. I acknowledge completely that it is not always the case that redress schemes are straightforward.

In terms of this legislation, much of what is being asked for in amendments Nos. 6 and 8 has either been set out in the reports the bodies referred to publish yearly or will be published as part of the Department of education's final reports, which must be provided where any scheme that has been in operation for a number of years is wound down or dissolved. We must learn from those reports to ensure we do our very best for survivors in any future redress schemes. For the reasons I have outlined, I cannot accept the amendments.