Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent and content of the consultation process that was undertaken with victims of residential abuse in advance of the drafting of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill, 2012. [30979/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Bill provides for the establishment of a Statutory Fund to support the needs of victims of residential institutional abuse, as endorsed by Dáil Éireann in the aftermath of the publication of the Ryan Report.

The Bill follows an extensive consultation process undertaken by my Department which involved meetings with the religious congregations, with groups representing survivors of residential institutional child abuse and with a number of other interested parties. Press advertisements were placed in over 40 local and national newspapers and newspapers aimed at the Irish community in the United Kingdom inviting views, which could be forwarded by post, email or by a freefone Service, which was operated by Barnardos, on behalf of my Department.

A detailed report on the consultation process is available on my Department's website and provides a summary of the issues raised by contributors to the process.