Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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130. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the qualifications of and training given to all Caranua staff, in particular to all application advisors in view of their particular role to offer support, information, advice and advocacy to those who have received awards from a court settlement or the redress board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45164/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board, is an independent statutory body established pursuant to the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 to oversee the use of the cash contributions of up to €110 million, pledged by the religious congregations, to support the needs of survivors of institutional child abuse. The organisation is responsible for the day to day management of its own affairs including the recruitment of staff and the ongoing management of those staff, meeting their training and development needs, etc.

I understand from enquiries made by my officials that the staff of Caranua bring a broad range of experiences and qualifications to their roles, and in particular the Application Advisors are expected to have a degree or equivalent professional qualification in a relevant field (e.g. social work, social care, psychology, counselling, psychotherapy, advice work, advocacy) and must have experience in carrying out assessments of needs and obtaining information from callers in a non intrusive and supportive way along with a sound knowledge and understanding of social disadvantage, social services and citizens rights, and the operation of health, housing and social services.

I understand also that the Board and Executive of Caranua are committed to providing an ongoing range of training and supports to the staff team so that they are able to understand and respond to the needs of survivors, manage their work and self-care, and uphold the organisation’s values. This is done through a programme of training, invited speakers, internal and external group support, individual supervision, performance appraisal and staff meetings. Training includes induction to Caranua and its systems and procedures, skills development and information and training on a range of areas including:

- Understanding institutionalisation;

- Effects of trauma and the needs of survivors;

- Understanding the impact of traumatic experiences on people;

- Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training;

- Overview of HSE systems, including pathway to services;

- Use of the Remote Interpreting Service for Deaf Applicants;

- Origins Family Tracing Service; and

- Introduction to citizensinformation.ie

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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131. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the 2016 annual report of the appeals officer of Caranua will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45165/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The annual report of the outgoing independent appeals officer appointed to consider appeals against decisions of Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board will shortly be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in fulfilment of the requirement set out in section 21(5)(c) of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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132. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 424 of 20 June 2017, the number of outstanding appeals at Caranua; the length of time those appeals are outstanding; when it is expected that the backlog will be cleared; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45166/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Earlier this year I appointed two new appeals officers to consider appeals against decisions of Caranua. These appointments were made in accordance with the provisions of section 21 of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012. The appeals officers are entirely independent in the performance of their statutory functions.

I am advised that there are currently 76 cases outstanding. There are 53 applicants waiting up to 6 months, 11 between 6 and 12 months and 12 over 12 months. Given the improved clearance rate, I would expect the backlog to be cleared by the end of this year.