As the Deputy will be aware, in June 2023 Government approved the delivery of a package of ongoing supports to survivors of abuse in residential institutions, including supports relating to health, education and advocacy. The development of this package of supports was informed by a consultation process with survivors and survivor groups, including a survivor-led Consultative Forum.
The report of the Consultative Forum noted that survivors considered that the education which they had received while resident in institutions was very poor, and identified supports for survivors to pursue education as being of benefit. The Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024 provides for the establishment of a new scheme involving the payment of cash grants ranging from €500 to €2,000 per year, depending on the level and duration of the course, to survivors who are engaging in, or who wish to continue to engage in, further and higher education.
Survivors will only be required to demonstrate that they have registered for a course and have paid whatever fees apply. They will be free to spend the grant as they see fit to support their studies, whether to purchase a laptop, fund travel costs or purchase necessary materials.
This scheme will also ensure that survivors are not required to pay the Student Contribution Charge where this would otherwise apply.
These grants will be additional to the wide range of enhanced supports which is in place for those seeking to engage in further and higher education, including the Free Fees Initiative, the SUSI Student Grant Scheme and the Back to Education Allowance, as well as initiatives such as Springboard.
With regard to the age profile of survivors, the Bill provides that these education supports will be made available to survivors who received an award of redress from the Residential Institutions Redress Board, or a similar court award or settlement. As the Deputy will be aware, the Redress Board operated on a confidential basis and therefore my Department does not have detailed information or data relating to those who will be eligible.
However, based on an actuarial study undertaken on behalf of Caranua in 2015, and utilising CSO data to estimate the survivor population at 1 January 2024, it is estimated that approximately 10,000 survivors would be eligible for these supports, and that the majority of those survivors are over the age of 65.
