Aislinn calls for end of Redress Board

The Aislinn centre, which helps people who suffered abuse as children, has called on the Government to disband the Redress Board…

The Aislinn centre, which helps people who suffered abuse as children, has called on the Government to disband the Redress Board.

It also wants the statute of limitations lifted for survivors who suffered abuse in institutions.

It claims this would allow survivors to seek compensation similar to recent awards made in the High Court. These were in excess of €200,000 and almost €300,000.

In one case settled recently at the Redress Board "a survivor received the equivalent of € 4.80 per day for nine years of extreme physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse", said Christine Buckley of Aislinn.

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She said the average award by the board in recent months "appears to have dropped to between € 30,000 and €34,000. This is less than half of the average award of this time last year - €77,000-€79,000."

She said that "ironically" this fall was predicted by the board last December . It had said that "the cases coming after Christmas would not be as serious".

She asked: "How could the Redress Board have made such an assessment given they had not yet met these survivors?"

She wondered whether there was an agreement between the board and the Government to cap or cut costs.

She said that Aislinn and the National Counselling Service were also "extremely concerned at the negative impact attendance at the Redress Board is having on survivors".