Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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90. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that she is taking to address the restrictions in the redress scheme for victims of historical school abuses. [58132/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The ex gratia scheme was originally established in 2015 and was put in place to provide those, who had instituted legal proceedings against the State in respect of day school sexual abuse and subsequently discontinued those proceedings following rulings in the domestic courts, with an opportunity to apply for an ex gratia payment. The Scheme was paused in 2019 following a report from the Independent Assessor Mr. Justice Iarflaith O'Neill.

A revised ex gratia scheme opened for applications on 21 July 2021. To date 102 applications have been approved.

To qualify for a payment, an applicant must demonstrate that the facts of their case come within the parameters of the ECtHR judgment and, in particular, will have to satisfy the following criteria –

- Were sexually abused while a pupil at a recognised day school and that this occurred before November 1991 in respect of a primary school or June 1992 in respect of a post-primary school

- That had the Guidelines for Procedures for Dealing with Allegations or Suspicions of Child Abuse, Department of Education 1991/1992 been in place at the time the sexual abuse occurred there would have been a real prospect of altering the outcome or mitigating the harm suffered as a result

Ireland is committed to fulfilling its obligations in implementing the ECtHR ruling. This means that the revised scheme is designed first and foremost to provide a remedy to those who had issued and discontinued their proceedings against the State in respect of day school sexual abuse prior to the ECtHR ruling in O'Keeffe v Ireland. However, the revised scheme goes beyond that group in that all others who issued legal proceedings against the State at a later date and up to 1 July 2021 in respect of day school sexual abuse, whether these proceedings are still in being, were discontinued at any point, or who had settled with the State, may also apply for an award.

As well as broadening the scope of the Scheme, the type and nature of evidence that will be considered by the State Claims Agency in respect of individual applications (and as set out in the Terms of Scheme) broadens the means through which an applicant can demonstrate that they fall within the terms of the ECtHR judgment.