Child abuse claims 'should be in public'

SEANAD REPORT: It seemed that an attempt was being made once again to sweep the issue of child abuse under the carpet by the requirement that the board which will consider victims' compensation claims should hold hearings behind closed doors, Mr Joe O'Toole (Ind) said.

Once it was established that there was a prima-facie case and a genuine allegation, the victim should have the right to request that the hearing be in public. In appropriate cases, the decision could be left to the Residential Institutions Redress Board. Public hearings were necessary so that essential lessons could be learned about man's inhumanity to man, with a view to preventing such happenings in future, added Mr O'Toole.

Responding, the Minister for Education and Science, Dr Woods, said the hearings would involve deeply traumatic situations where great sensitivity was required. The board should be enabled to get on "in a quiet, confidential way" with the job entrusted to it.

Low levels of proof would be required. The injury must only be consistent with the allegation made by an applicant. Where there was a conflict of evidence, medical evidence would prove decisive.

Dr Woods said it was estimated that compensation for the victims of abuse in residential institutions would cost between €250 million and €500 million. "We are trying to make genuine reparation, directed specifically at the people who suffered most," he said.