In October 200, the Irish Government agreed in principle to establish a compensation scheme for those adults, who as children resided in certain institutions, where the State had a supervisory or regulatory role, where... [ view full abstract ]
In October 200, the Irish Government agreed in principle to establish a compensation scheme for those adults, who as children resided in certain institutions, where the State had a supervisory or regulatory role, where financial compensation would be paid on an ex gratia basis, where the claimant could establish that they had experienced abuse. A Residential Institutions Redress Board was established in December 2002 to make awards to former residents of what eventually became 141 separate institutions. An agreement was reached between the State and the Religious Congregations that managed the majority of the institutions that were to covered by the compensation scheme, that they contribute to the fund in the amount of €128m. This agreement gave an indemnity in respect of all civil actions arising from acts of abuse against those who were eligible to make an application to the compensation scheme. Following the publication of Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in May 2009, the Government sought a further contribution from the 18 Religious Congregations, arguing that in light of the Report that the Congregations increase their share to 50 percent of the total redress costs, which would amount to approximately €725m. Following negotiations, in addition to the €128m agreed in 2002, an additional sum of €348.5 was contributed to the cost of redress.
By the end of August 2015, the Board had completed the process in 16,631 cases, with awards made in 15,562 cases, and the average value of awards to date being €62,240. The total value of the awards at the end of 2013 was €941.3m. In addition, the Board has paid legal costs in the amount of €198.3m and the Boards own administrative costs were €68.5m, giving a total cost of €1.2bn to the end of 2013 (Residential Institutions Redress Board, 2014).
The paper will explore the process of decision making that established the particular remedies for addressing historical abuse, arguing that the specific configuration of redress and inquiry was flawed, resulting in a restricted and limited understanding of the historical context, positioning former residents as avaricious, and exposing to State to open-ended liability. The paper will conclude with lessons from other jurisdictions attempting to address similar issues.
Historical and theoretical approaches , Residential child care
