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Newsletter July 2010 This is the 19th 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. Applications The final date for receipt of applications has now passed and the Board has received a total of 14,753 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. The Board continues to hold callovers to ensure the expeditious completion of applications. Pursuant to the provisions of section 8(2) and 8(3) of the 2002 Act the Board may, at its discretion, 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 30th June 2010 the Board had received 936 such submissions which were dealt with as follows; 305 submissions were accepted by the Board To date the Board has completed the process in 14,143 cases. 10,418 offers have been made following settlement talks and 2,842 awards have been made following hearings. 12 applicants have rejected their awards. 883 applications were withdrawn, refused or resulted in no award.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 €62,860, the largest award being €300,500. Redress Board Bands 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 - €200,000 216 1.63% III 40 to 54 €100,000 - €150,000 1,762 13.29% II 25 to 39 €50,000 - €100,000 6,516 49.14% I Less than 25 Up to €50,000 4,737 35.72% Total 13,260 100%
To date the Board has paid legal costs to 874 firms of solicitors in respect of 12,384 applications. A total of €152.4 million has been paid, of which €11.4 million was paid in respect of associated High Court proceedings in accordance with section 27(2) of the Redress Act. |
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