Residential Institutions Redress Unit

Following the apology by the then Taoiseach in May 1999, the Government put in place a range of measures in response to residential institutional child abuse, including:

• the statutory Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA), with extensive powers to investigate allegations of abuse brought before it. The Commission published its report, the Ryan Report, in May 2009
• the statutory independent redress scheme to provide fair and reasonable awards to those who, as children, suffered abuse in residential institutions under the supervision or regulatory authority of the State Residential Institutions Redress Board (RIRB).

The Residential Institutions Redress Unit manages the Department’s response to initiatives for the redress of child abuse in residential institutions.

• support for the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund
• support in order to finalise the work of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and for the implementation of the recommendations in the Commission’s Report
• manage the government’s response to the Commission’s Report
• support for the Residential Institutions Redress Board
• support for the provision of information to former residents of industrial and reformatory schools under the Freedom of Information Act and the Barnardo’s Origins service
• provision of appropriate supports to survivors of child abuse
• implementation of all aspects of the Indemnity Agreement with the Congregations.
• oversee cash and property transfers from the congregations

The Unit also co-ordinates the reports to Europe on the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the Louise O’Keeffe case.

As part of the implementation of that Judgement, in November 2017, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill, a retired High Court Judge was appointed as an independent assessor who will assess cases where an individual has had an application for an ex-gratia scheme declined by the State Claims Agency. Information on how the assessment will be administered can be found at Independent Assessment Process.

• www.childabusecommission.ie
• www.rirb.ie
• www.caranua.ie
• Former Residents of Industrial Schools document collection