Munster Express Online

The Government has announced a proposal to use €110m of the offers of contributions from Religious Congregations to establish and operate a Statutory Fund to support the needs of survivors of residential institutional child abuse and for education and welfare purposes. The Fund is being proposed to support the continuing education, health and welfare needs faced by survivors. It will not provide cash compensation for survivors and will be separate and distinct from the compensation scheme operated by the Independent Residential Institutions Redress Board which provides fair and reasonable awards to victims. As part of the public consultation process, the Department of Educational and Skills is meeting with groups representing survivors of institutional child abuse and the religious congregations.

The Department wishes to consult as widely as possible and invites the views of all interested parties, knowing that many survivors are not affiliated to any groups.

Submissions should identify the specific needs facing survivors and suggest how the Fund should operate to assist in meeting these needs. Written submissions can be e-mailed to statutoryfund@education.gov.ie or posted to Statutory Fund Consultation, Department of Education and Skills, Block 2, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1.

A free phone service is available to receive comments Monday to Friday between 10.00 am and 1.00 pm at 1800 938140 or 0800 0148912 from Northern Ireland or UK. The service is being operated by Barnardos on behalf of the Department, and the closing date for receipt of submissions is Friday 27th August 2010. Please note that all comments, observations and submissions will be subject to the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 – 2003. Consequently when submitting material, a person should identify any information that they do not wish to have released together with any accompanying explanation.