Below are questions asked in the Oireachtas, relating to Caranua and other areas relevant to survivors

Residential Institutions Redress Scheme

Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the institutions (details supplied) which were under the responsibility of the 18 religious organisations and congregations that signed an indemnity agreement with the Government and which were not.

Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the institutions (details supplied) which were responsible for institutions and homes that were on the Residential Institutions Redress Board schedule and were also part of a State indemnity agreement; and if he will provide a list of the institutions they operated, supervised or ran. 

Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the institutions (details supplied) which were responsible for institutions and homes that were on the Residential Institutions Redress Board schedule but were not part of a State indemnity agreement; and if he will provide a list of the institutions they operated, supervised or ran.

Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the amount each institution or organisation listed in the Schedule to the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 that was part of the indemnity scheme pledged in respect of the indemnity agreement.

Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which the indemnity liability was reckoned in respect of each organisation that was part of the indemnity agreement (details supplied).

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Richard Bruton): I propose to take Questions Nos. 154 to 158, inclusive, together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the primary consideration of the Government in establishing the Redress Scheme was to provide justice for people who had been abused in childhood whilst resident in institutions which operated under the supervision of the State. The Government’s decision to establish the Redress Scheme was made regardless of whether the religious congregations who managed the institutions would contribute to the Scheme or not.

The Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 provided for the establishment of both the Residential Institutions Redress Board and Review Committee and a total of 139 institutions were included in the schedule of specified institutions to the Act including 16 added by way of ministerial order in 2004 and 2005. While the majority of these institutions were managed by the 18 religious congregations who were party to the 2002 Indemnity Agreement, others were managed by other congregations, State bodies, and voluntary bodies/management committees or pursuant to Trusts.

The Indemnity Agreement between the Government and the 18 contributing religious congregations was signed on the 5th of June 2002 and provided for a collective contribution of €128 million comprising cash, counselling services and property. As the contributions were collective, the Agreement does not apportion those contributions on the basis of individual congregations.

Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason survivors of an institution (details supplied) were not considered eligible for compensation under the 2002 redress scheme; if an alternative redress scheme for these persons is being considered; if an investigation of the conditions endured by residents of this institution will take place; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Katherine Zappone): As the Deputy will be aware, my colleague the Minister for Education and Skills is responsible for the 2002 Residential Institutions Redress Act. However, I understand that when the Ryan Report was published in 2009 there were a number of calls for the Redress Scheme to be extended to include additional institutions, including the Bethany Home. The decision regarding extending the Scheme has been reviewed on a number of occasions by previous Governments with no change in the decision to extend the scheme.

Bethany Home is one of the 14 Mother and Baby Homes included within the scope of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes. Its terms of reference require the Commission to examine the living conditions and care arrangements experienced by mothers and children in these institutions. However, it is essential to recognise that the Commission is independent in the performance of its functions. Therefore, the precise approach to its investigation is a matter for the Commission to decide and progress. I do not have any role or influence in these decisions.