Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the safeguards to be included in the legislation governing the implementation of the statutory trust fund that will ensure transparency and openness in its implementation; and his views that lessons can be learnt from the operation of the redress fund in which a number of victims' groups and survivors of abuse raised important concerns about a perceived lack of accountability. [25095/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The General Scheme of the Bill to establish the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund proposes the objects of the Statutory Fund to include the optimal disbursement of the available resources to meet the needs of survivors having regard to the principles of equity, consistency and transparency. While the General Scheme specifies the approved services for the purposes of the Fund, it provides that the Fund will determine the extent of, and conditions attaching to, the provision of these approved services. The Fund will determine and publish the criteria by reference to which it will make decisions on applications to it.

It is proposed that the Fund will be a corporate body whose Board shall comprise 7 members, including 2 former residents and which will publish an annual report. Its accounts will be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General while its chief executive will be accountable to the Public Accounts Committee and other Oireachtas Committees. It is also proposed that the Fund will be subject to the Freedom of Information and Ombudsman legislation.

I am satisfied that the proposed arrangements will ensure transparency and openness.

The Redress Board operates pursuant to the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 to provide fair and reasonable awards to persons who suffered abuse as children while resident in scheduled institutions, on an ex-gratia basis, involving no finding of fault or declaration of liability. The Board, which is wholly independent in the performance of its functions, makes awards in accordance with the framework set out in Towards Redress and Recovery, the report of the independent Compensation Advisory Committee which advised on the appropriate levels of compensation. Independent legal advice is available to applicants and the vast majority chose to avail of this. It is open to each applicant to accept or reject an award made by the Board and the Review Committee provides an appeal mechanism by which an applicant can seek to have his/her award reviewed.