Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 526: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the sum of money budgeted by his Department for the 2008 fiscal year towards the operation of, including awards made by or arising from decisions of, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse; the budgetary requirements he expects the Commission to require in 2009 and beyond; the details of its work and purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33712/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established on a statutory basis in May 2000 pursuant to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000.

The broad terms of reference of the Commission are: to afford victims of abuse in childhood an opportunity to tell of the abuse they suffered to a sympathetic and experienced forum; to establish as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of the physical and sexual abuse of children in institutions and in other places during the period from 1940 to the present; and to compile a report and publish it to the general public, on the activities and the findings of the Commission, containing recommendations on actions to address the continuing effects of the abuse and actions to be taken to safeguard children from abuse in the future.

It is not, however, the function of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse to make awards to person who may have been abused whilst resident in institutions. This is the function of the Residential Institutions Redress Board or indeed the Courts, depending on the route taken by the former resident.

At this particular point in time, it is estimated that an additional provision in the region of €45 to €55 million may be required to meet the remaining overall costs of the Commission. The 2008 allocation of €18.1 million will meet part of this liability. This should, however, be considered to be a tentative provision given that the Commission has yet to receive and assess a large volume of third party legal costs. Consequently, it is difficult to estimate the final outcome of costs at this time.