The Minister for Education has today appointed a new chairperson to the Residential Institutions Redress Board, which is expected to deliver a total of €1 billion in compensation to victims of abuse.
Ex officioHigh Court judge and former Circuit Court judge, Mr Justice Esmond Smyth will take over the chair from Judge Bryan McMahon, who has been recalled to the High Court.
The board, which was set up to provide compensation to victims of abuse in orphanages and industrial schools run by religious organisations, had completed 9,200 cases by October last year.
A total of over 14,500 compensation applications for sexual, emotional or physical abuse were received by the board by a 2005 deadline and a final compensation tally is expected to cost the tax payer €1bn.
In 2002, 18 religious orders paid over €128 million in cash and property to the State as part of a deal to prevent bancruptcy, whereby they were granted indemnity against future legal actions by former residents at the residential institutions.
The Department of Education originally estimated that the compensation scheme would cost about €250 million, but later revised this figure to over €600 million. However, in 2003, the Comptroller and Auditor General projected that the scheme could cost up to €1 billion.
Announcing the appointment today, Minister Mary Hanafin said the Redress Board "forms an integral part of the range of measures put in place by the Government to assist in alleviating the effects of child abuse suffered by those who were formerly resident in Industrial Schools and other residential institutions".
Mr Justice Smyth is currently a member of the Irish Sentencing Information System committee and is chairman of the steering committee to implement the introduction of the audiovisual recording of interviews with suspects in Garda stations.