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Sep 17, 2014 | Parliamentary Questions

Parliamentary Questions – 17 September 2014

Caranua > Parliamentary Questions > Parliamentary Questions – 17 September 2014

Below are questions asked by TDs in Dáil Éireann, relating to Caranua

CEO

Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on whether a person (details supplied) is suitable to head a statutory board to assist the victims of church religious orders. [33369/14]

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan): The Chief Executive Officer of Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board was selected following an open recruitment competition conducted by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). In accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 my predecessor designated the person selected by PAS to be the first Chief Executive of the Board. At its first meeting held on 27 March 2013, the person so designated was appointed by the Board to be its first Chief Executive. I understand that the Chief Executive has extensive experience in the delivery, design and management of services for groups who are socially disadvantaged and immediately prior to her current appointment was an independent management and social policy consultant with public, voluntary and philanthropic bodies. I am not aware that any work she may have carried out in any of those capacities would give rise to a conflict of interest or impact on her ability to perform the functions associated with the position of Chief Executive of Caranua.
Eligibility criteria

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will bring forward her review of the eligibility criteria for applying to Caranua’s funds which is scheduled for 2015. [33888/14]

 Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the terms of the Caranua scheme can be changed to allow for children of survivors to avail of it. [34654/14]

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan):  I propose to take Questions Nos. 1360 and 1430 together.

As the Deputies will be aware the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 provides that those who are currently eligible to apply to Caranua are those former residents who received awards from the Residential Institutions Redress Board or equivalent Court awards or settlements. During the passage of the legislation through the Houses of Oireachtas, an undertaking was given to review the operation of the Fund two years after its establishment in the event of applications not resulting in a significant expenditure of the Fund. Following its establishment in March 2013, Caranua began to accept applications in January 2014. Accordingly it would be my intention to consider the question of a review of the operation of the Fund next year.
Groups

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide in tabular form the groups which the CEO of Caranua has met with since its establishment; and the dates on which they have met them. [33889/14]

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan): The information sought by the Deputy relates to the day to day affairs of Caranua. As I have no role in relation to such matters I have arranged to have the Deputy’s question forwarded to Caranua with a view to having the information provided to him directly as soon as possible.
Services provided

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien  asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of people who made applications for funds from Caranua for educational courses and were refused on the basis the cost was over €5,000; the cost of the courses applied for; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33891/14]

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of persons who have received advocacy assistance from Caranua since it was established; and what that entailed for each of those persons. [33896/14]

 Deputy Jonathan O’Brien  asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of persons who have made applications to Caranua to date; the number of persons who have been refused payments; the number who have received payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33904/14]

Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the financial amount paid out to survivors by Caranua; and the financial amount paid out on wages. [34655/14]

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 1363, 1366, 1369 and 1431 together.

Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board, is an independent statutory body established pursuant to the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012. Caranua provides regular updates on its website (www.caranua.ie) in regard to the number of applications received and related matters. I understand that by end August, Caranua had received 3,188 applications of which 3,059 applicants were deemed to be eligible, 75 applications were still being processed and 54 applicants were found not to be eligible to apply; 2,431 applicants have had their identification documents verified and application advisors had been in touch with 1,203 applicants. By that time Caranua had made payments worth €1,775,541 to 335 applicants.

I have arranged to have the Deputies’ questions forwarded to Caranua with a view to having any additional available information provided to them directly as soon as possible.

Contracts

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the external agencies engaged by Caranua; the cost of these services; if the costs of these external services are covered by funds from the National Treasury Management Agency. [33892/14]

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a breakdown of expenditure of Caranua of office running costs, external contractors, ICT spend and staff salaries since its establishment. [33899/14]

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan):  I propose to take Questions Nos. 1364 and 1368 together.

In accordance with section 30 of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 all expenses and other costs incurred by Caranua are met from the investment account established by the NTMA and funded from contributions received from religious congregations.

Caranua’s annual accounts, which it is required to prepare under section 31 of the 2012 Act, will set out the position in regard to the organisation’s income and expenditure. Caranua’s 2013 accounts are currently being examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

I have arranged to have the Deputy’s questions forwarded to Caranua with a view to having any additional available information provided to him directly as soon as possible.

Salaries

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if staff salaries in Caranua are funded from the €110m allocated to the body or from other Exchequer funds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33898/14]

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan): All expenditure incurred by the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund (Caranua) in the performance of its functions, including its payroll costs, are met from the investment account operated by the National Treasury Management Agency. In accordance with the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 the investment account is financed from the contributions from the religious congregations of up to €110 million and any associated interest. There is no provision for the use of Exchequer funds to meet the costs associated with the operation of the Fund.

 
Information

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the 13,000 plus potential applicants still eligible to apply for support or payments from Caranua have received sufficient information to ensure that people were not deterred from applying and were aware of how to apply as per the previous Minister’s commitment to do so. [33907/14]

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan): As the Deputy is aware, my predecessor asked Caranua to keep the matter of reaching out to those former residents who had not applied under review so as to ensure the greatest level of uptake of the funding available. The Deputy will also be aware that there was a delay in processing applications, which arose due to the number of applications and calls received being higher than expected and the time taken to recruit staff. Caranua’s four Application Advisors are in place since late May and my Department approved Caranua’s request to engage an Agency to provide temporary additional resources to address the backlog.

Caranua has pursued a range of measures to increase awareness of its functions, including leaflet and poster campaigns including includes doctors’ surgeries, health centres and other community based services, its website and ongoing contact with survivor support groups, its statutory partners, Irish welfare services and other community based and social services in Ireland and the United Kingdom.