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Newsletter December 2009 This is the 18th in a series of newsletters which the Board has decided to produce to keep applicants informed from time to time as to the procedures it follows and other developments. The Board's Guide to Hearing Procedures issued in April 2003 and in December of 2005 the Board issued the third edition of the guide. The final date for receipt of applications has now passed and the Board has received a total of 14,667 applications. The Board notifies applicants once it has received all necessary documentation in relation to their case. The Board is now in the process of finalising the remaining applications before it. In recent times the Board has held a number of callovers with the solicitors on record to ascertain the up to date position with their cases. In its continuing efforts to ensure the expeditious completion of applications the Board will hold a further series of callovers in February 2010. Pursuant to the provisions of section 8(2) and 8(3) of the 2002 Act the Board may, at its discretion and where it considers there are exceptional circumstances, extend the period for receipt of applications. Any applicant wishing to lodge an application after 15th December 2005 is asked to explain in writing to the Board why the application was not lodged in time. The Board considers each such submission individually. By the 15th December 2009 the Board had received 647 such submissions which were dealt with as follows; 184 submissions were accepted by the Board Awards To date the Board has completed the process in 13,743 cases. 10,188 offers have been made following settlement talks and 2,741 awards have been made following hearings. 11 applicants have rejected their awards. 814 applications were withdrawn, refused or resulted in no award. By and large applications have been refused as, on the face of the documentation, the application was outside the Board's terms of reference as laid down in the 2002 Act. In other words, the applications did not relate to residential institutions as defined in the Act. These applications are determined by the Board immediately on receipt so that the applicant is informed at the earliest possible date that his/her application is outside the ambit of the redress scheme. The average value of awards to date is €63,210, the largest award being €300,000. The breakdown of awards by Redress Band is as follows: Redress Bands Total Weightings for Severity of Abuse and Injury/Effects of Abuse Award Payable by way of Redress Number Percentage V 70 or more €200,000 - €300,000 29 0.22% IV 55 to 69 €150,000 - €200,000 209 1.62% III 40 to 54 €100,000 - €150,000 1,717 13.28% II 25 to 39 €50,000 - €100,000 6,407 49.56% I Less than 25 Up to €50,000 4,567 35.32% Total 12,929 100%
To date the Board has paid legal costs to 856 firms of solicitors in respect of 12,034 applications. A total of €148.5 million has been paid, of which €11.3 million was paid in respect of associated High Court proceedings in accordance with section 27(2) of the Redress Act.
The Board's offices will close on Christmas Eve and will re-open on Wednesday 30th December 2009. The Board and staff would like to take this opportunity to wish all applicants a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. A special note of thanks is extended to all those who contributed to the establishment of the Board and who continue to help us in our attempt to provide the best possible service to all applicants. |
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