John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the costs paid from Exchequer funds to 31 December 2004 in relation to all commissions, inquiries and tribunals commenced since 1995 by her Department; the title of the commission, inquiry and tribunal; the estimated date of completion of same; the estimated final cost of each commission, inquiry and tribunal. [18772/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established in 1999. A sum of €21,234,960.02 has been expended from Exchequer funds up to the end of 2004 which covers administrative costs, legal costs and the Department's legal fees. The Government signed an order on 20 May 2005 extending the term of the commission up to 23 May 2008. However, the commission has indicated that it should conclude its inquiry well before that date. The overall estimated cost of the commission to the end of 2007 is €102.2 million.

The Residential Institutions Redress Board was established for a three year period on the 16 December 2002. Up to the end of 2004 a sum of €141,238,936.72 was expended on redress awards and associated costs. A further sum of €30,978,640.97, received from the religious congregations under the terms of the indemnity agreement of 5 June 2002, was used to meet redress awards. The administrative cost of the redress board and the review committee up to the end of 2004 was to €12,226,640.23. Therefore, the total sum expended from Exchequer funds up to the end of 2004 was €153,465,576.95.

It is not possible to determine the total number of applications under the redress scheme at this juncture. It will take the board some considerable time to deal with all applications and as a result the final cost of the scheme may not be known until some time in 2007. Based on the total number of applications the redress board expects to receive up to the 15 December 2005, and allowing for legal and administration costs, the estimated total cost of the scheme will be somewhere in the region of €680 million to €730 million.

Between 1995 and the current date there have been two non-statutory inquires in the child detention school sector. Both inquiries concerned allegations made against employees of children detention schools. The first inquiry commenced in April 2002, its work finishing in July 2003. The total cost was €98,552, including VAT. The second inquiry commenced in the summer of 2002 and finished in November 2002. The total cost was €15,730, including VAT.

There is power for the Minister to establish inquiries under the vocational education Acts into the fitness of officers of vocational education committees and institutes of technology to hold office. One such inquiry was established regarding a member of staff in Dundalk Institute of Technology. The cost of that inquiry was €4,381.51. Other similar inquiries have taken place but it has not been possible to obtain details of these in the time available. I will arrange to forward the information to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Finally, under section 20 of the Regional Technical Colleges Act 1992, the Minister for Education and Science has power to authorise officers to report on the operation of institutes of technology. One such inspection has been carried out in the relevant time period. The cost involved was €40,653.43.