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The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., is announcing how the government plans to progress issues raised in the follow up to the Ryan Report.  The following matters are being addressed:

• Contributions towards the costs of the Response to Redress by the 18 religious congregations
• The Statutory Fund
• The future of the Redress Board
• The Memorial Committee

The final cost of the response to residential institutional child abuse is estimated to be in the region of €1.36 billion.  The Government believes that this cost should be shared on a 50:50 basis, between the taxpayer and those responsible for managing the institutions where horrendous child abuse took place.

However, the offers from the religious congregations to date have fallen far short of the amount needed. Under the 2002 Indemnity Agreement, the 18 congregations involved agreed to provide a contribution of €128 million, comprising cash, property and counselling services.

In 2009, they proposed putting up just over €100 million in cash and offered to transfer property, mainly in the health and education sectors, that they valued at €235.5 million, to various State agencies and voluntary organisations.

Responding to these proposals, Minister Quinn acknowledged some progress had been made, but expressed his disappointment at the offers to date.

“Of the properties offered to the State, only 12 have been identified as of potential immediate benefit to the State and these will be pursued.  In fact, only a quarter of the total property offers made to date by the congregations are of current interest to the State. The value of these 12 properties, based on the congregations’ own valuations, is approximately €60 million,” said Minister Quinn.

Minister Quinn also followed up on the call in April 2010 by the last government for the religious congregations to augment their original contribution of €348.5 million in order to meet half of the costs of the response to residential institutional child abuse. He has written to them seeking a meeting to discuss their response to date.

“Despite the State’s call for the congregations to supplement their original offers, only two out of the 18 congregations have replied positively to make up a shortfall of some €200 million.  One congregation has offered to give €1 million towards the costs of the National Children’s Hospital and to refund some or all of its legal costs, while another offered to transfer a former primary school. None of the other congregations have supplemented their original offers,” said Minister Quinn.

“The congregations’ total offers fall well short, by several hundred million, of the €680 million contribution they should bear towards the cost of institutional residential child abuse.  In April, I called on the orders to consider handing over appropriate school infrastructure as a way to make progress towards the 50:50 target contribution.  I reiterate that call now.”

With the Government’s approval, Minister Quinn proposes to seek the congregations’ agreement to a legal mechanism which would ensure that title to school infrastructure properties would be transferred to the State, at the State’s request, and that title to such properties could not be altered, whether by sale on the open market or by transfer into any Trust arrangement, without the prior consent of the Department.

In addition, the Government is requesting the congregations to offer to transfer their properties that are currently rented by the State and properties that are identified as being of specific interest to the State.  This overall approach will aim to ensure that if the State were to seek the transfer of any of the school infrastructure owned by the congregations, it could then do so.

Commenting on this proposal, the Minister noted “I recognise that there are complex legal issues to be addressed to realise the transfer of school infrastructure.  Nevertheless I believe that this approach affords the congregations involved the opportunity to shoulder their share of the costs of responding to the horrendous wrongs suffered by children in their care, while at the same time, recognising the legitimate legacy of their contribution to Irish education.”

The management bodies of other institutions included within the Redress Scheme have also been approached to make a contribution towards the costs involved and their potential to similarly transfer school infrastructure will be explored.

The Government is to proceed with legislation to establish a Residential Institutions Statutory Fund, to support the victims of residential institutional abuse, as endorsed by the Dáil in the aftermath of the Ryan Report.  This follows extensive consultations with survivors of residential abuse and the groups which support them, together with a public consultation process.

Some €110 million, essentially the cash portion of the offers from the congregations, will be used to fund the trust.  Announcing the measure, Minister Quinn said, “Over 13,000 former residents who have received awards from the Residential Institutions Redress Board will be eligible to apply for support from the Fund and every effort is being made to minimise the administration involved.  Some former residents advocate a simple distribution of the available money.  However, I believe that the Fund should target resources at services to support former residents’ needs, such as counselling, psychological support services and mental health services, health and personal social services, educational services and housing services.”

To date, contributions of €20.6m have been received towards the Statutory Fund.  These and the remaining contributions to be received will be invested in an investment account to be established by the National Treasury Management Agency.

The Education Finance Board will be dissolved and the Statutory Fund will assume its functions to disburse the remaining moneys.  As responsibility for information for survivors will also be taken on by the Statutory Fund, funding of survivor groups by the Department of Education will cease.

The Residential Institutions Redress Board will be wound down.  The Board was set-up in 2002 to provide fair and reasonable financial awards to victims of institutional childhood abuse.  The original closing date for receipt of applications under the Redress Scheme was December, 2005, although the Board can accept late applications in exceptional circumstances.

As it is now almost six years since the original closing date and as it is necessary to remove the Board’s power to consider late applications in order to wind-up the Redress Board, the Government has approved the drafting of amending legislation.  The Minister expects to enact the necessary legislation to remove the Board’s power to consider late applications received after 16th September 2011. The Minister thanked the Redress Board and its chair, Judge Esmond Smyth, for their work to date.

The Memorial Committee appointed to oversee the erection of a memorial to victims of institutional abuse, as recommended in the Ryan Report, has reported to the Minister on its work to date.  This involved a public consultation process and meetings with survivor groups and other interested parties.  The Minister has approved the Committee’s proposal to advance to the competition stage for the Memorial and the Committee will now seek expressions of interest.

Minister Quinn will shortly be meeting with groups representing survivors of residential institutional abuse and representatives of the religious congregations in relation to the measures announced today.