When the Board receives your application, it will obtain any further information necessary for making its decision in your case. In particular, the Board will wish to be satisfied that it has all the relevant medical evidence relating to your injuries.
The Board is also required by the Act to ask (a) any person named in your application as responsible for abuse which you suffered, and (b) the representative of the institution in which the abuse took place, to provide the Board with evidence appropriate to your application. For this purpose, they will be given a copy of your application and may be given such further information regarding your application as the Board considers appropriate.
When it has obtained all the evidence which it requires, the Board will deal with your application as follows.
Informal settlement
Where the Board is satisfied that you are entitled to redress, it may make an offer in settlement of your application, which you are free to accept or reject. If you accept the settlement offer, no further proceedings are necessary. If you reject the settlement offer, your application will proceed to a hearing by the Board.
Hearing by the Board
If it is not possible to deal with your application by way of a settlement, the Board will allocate a date for the hearing of your application. This hearing, which will be as informal as possible, will be conducted by a panel consisting of two or three members of the Board. The hearing will enable you or the Board to call witnesses to give oral evidence and to question other witnesses.
Any person named in your application as responsible for the abuse which you suffered, and the representative of the institution in which the abuse took place, may also take part in the hearing.
Hearings will normally be held in Dublin, but arrangements will also be made for hearings in other cities in Ireland. Where an applicant lives outside the State, the Board may make arrangements for the taking of evidence on commission.
All hearings are in private and are not open to the public or to the media. In exceptional circumstances, the Board may at your request allow a close relative or other appropriate person to be present at the hearing of your application.
