Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on the findings of the report of the Committee of Public Accounts into the redress scheme for victims of institutional abuse; the action she intends to take arising from the report; if she intends to implement the recommendations contained in the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13009/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the publication of report of the Committee of Public Accounts and I have asked my Department to give due consideration to its findings and recommendations, particularly in terms of their relevance to and implications for the management of major policy issues within the Department.

I was pleased to note that the report acknowledges that, in establishing the redress board and introducing the various other redress initiatives for survivors of child abuse, the Government was motivated by a combination of social, humanitarian and legal considerations. The report notes that the setting up of a statutory redress scheme should be viewed in the context of the significant contingent liability which existed in respect of survivors of child abuse and the wish of the Government to provide a fair and humane way for compensating survivors without requiring them to face the trauma of adversarial cross examination in court. The report also notes that the Government decided to establish a statutory redress scheme regardless of whether the religious congregations would contribute to the scheme and that in securing a meaningful contribution from the congregations the Government had achieved its baseline level of €128 million.

While the report deals specifically with the redress scheme, the recommendations are of general cross departmental concern and their relevance for the Civil Service will need to be considered. My Department is working with the Department of Finance on the preparation of a minute of the Minister for Finance responding to the committee on the recommendations of the report. A copy of this minute will be circulated to all Accounting Officers.