Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 497: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the terms of reference, functions and purpose of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal, the Censorship of Films Appeal Board, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains, the Independent Monitoring Commission and the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation; if the agencies are still operational; the reason these functions cannot be carried out by his Department; the benefits to the Irish tax-payer gained from the work of the agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35065/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I can advise the Deputy that the bodies in question are all operational. The functions of these bodies are set out as follows and the benefits and necessity in each case is self-evident from these details.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal considers applications from persons who suffer personal injury as a result of a crime of violence or from their next of kin in the case of a fatal injury. The Tribunal provides for an independent determination on such applications and provides important assistance to the victims or crime in respect of expenses experienced as a result of the crime, including loss of earnings. The Censorship of Films Appeals Board was established under the Censorship of Films Act, 1923. It members are unpaid and convene solely to provide an independent appeal against decisions of the Film Censor.

Refugee Appeals Tribunal was established in 2000 in accordance with Sections 14 and 15 of the Refugee Act, 1996 (as amended). The composition and functions of the Tribunal are set out in the Second Schedule to the 1996 Act. The Tribunal provides for an independent appeal mechanism from decisions of the Refugee Applications Commissioner.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains was established by an International Agreement between the Irish and British Governments and by subsequent legislation (Criminal Justice (Location of Victims' Remains) Act 1999). The Commission's functions are to receive information relating to the location of remains of victims of paramilitary violence who were buried in secret and to facilitate, if possible, the recovery of such remains. I am sure the Deputy would agree with me on the value of this work, particularly for the families of those still missing. As the agreement and legislation confer both independence of Government and certain immunities on the Commission, its work could not be carried out by officials of my Department.

The Independent Monitoring Commission was established by an International Agreement between the Irish and British Governments and by subsequent legislation (Independent monitoring Commission Act 2003). The Commission was established, inter alia, to monitor paramilitary activity and the security normalisation programme carried out in Northern Ireland by the British Government. The IMC has made an invaluable contribution to the peace process and continues to do valuable work monitoring and reporting on the ongoing activities of paramilitary groups on the island. As the agreement and legislation confer independence of Government on the Commission, its work could not be carried out by officials of my Department.

On 28 March, 2006 the Government made an order establishing the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation with time frame of 18 months for reporting. On 30 July 2007 the Government approved an extension of one year to the term of the Commission, to September 28, 2008. The Commission is of course, as is appropriate, independent of my Department in carrying out this investigation. The commission will, firstly, investigate the handling of allegations or complaints of child sexual abuse made against clergy operating under the aegis of the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin and the response to such cases, and the handling of cases where there was knowledge or concern regarding sexual abuse.

Secondly, the commission will investigate the position in any Catholic diocese in the State, following a notification from the Minister for Health and Children that a diocese may not be implementing Church guidelines in relation to child sexual abuse by a priest or religious, or a notification that a diocese may not be implementing satisfactorily the recommendations of the Ferns Report.