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Newsletter December 2006 This is the 13th 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 last year the Board issued the third edition of the guide. The Board's annual report for 2005 issued to the Minister for Education and Science in June of this year. This report can be viewed on the Board's website www.rirb.ie and is available free of charge from the Board's office. Applications: The final date for receipt of applications has now passed and the Board has received a total of 14,541 applications; 9,432 of which were received in 2005. Of these 2,255 were received in November and 3,700 were received in December. The Board notifies applicants once it has received all necessary documentation in relation to their case. These notifications, known as completion letters, issue at a rate commensurate with the Board's ability to finalise applications and therefore do not always issue immediately after the Board has complied with its obligations in relation to the notification of relevant persons as outlined in the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2002. The Board is conscious that, given the disproportionately large number of applications lodged immediately before the statutory deadline of December 15th 2005 (3,700 applications were lodged in the first two weeks of December 2005 compared with 104 for the same period in 2004) there will be a considerable time lapse before these applications can be finalised. Applications Received after In accordance with section 8(1) of the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 the final date for receipt of applications was Awards: To date the Board has completed the process in 7,168 cases. 5,256 offers have been made following settlement talks and 1,567 awards have been made following hearings. 5 applicants have rejected their awards. 345 applications were withdrawn, refused or resulted no award. By and large applications have been refused as, on the face of the documentation, the application was outside the Boards 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 €71,000, the largest award being €300,000. 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 20 0.29% IV 55 – 69 €150,000 - €200,000 143 2.08% III 40 – 54 €100,000 - €150,000 1151 16.74% II 25 – 39 € 50,000 - €100,000 3842 55.88% I Less than 25 Up to €50,000 1719 25.00% Total 6875 100.00% Sittings The Board sits every day in its premises in Clonskeagh and now completes approximately 213 cases per month. It has also sat in
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