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

Delays

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the excessive delays in the operations of Caranua; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that citizens have lost places on education courses due to the inability of Caranua to process their appeals in a timely manner; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that a person (details supplied) lost a place on a course due to Caranua’s failure to process an appeal and the person has now lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman regarding same; her plans to put guidelines in place to ensure that appeals and cases are processed in a timely manner; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan): Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board, is an independent statutory body established pursuant to the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012. The processing of individual applications is a matter for Caranua itself and I have no role in the process. Decisions of Caranua may be appealed to an independent Appeals Officer. I understand that an appeal has been received from the person referred to by the Deputy in relation to a decision of Caranua and that the appeal is being considered by the Appeals Officer.

On the general question of the operations of Caranua, the Deputy will be aware there that there has been a delay in processing applications received by Caranua, which arose due to the number of applications and calls received being higher than expected and the time taken to recruit staff. With the appointment of Caranua’s four Application Advisors in late May the organisation has reached its full staffing complement. In addition my Department approved Caranua’s request to engage an Agency to provide temporary additional resources to address the backlog.