The work of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse is threatened by the Government's failure to act on legal representation and compensation, the commission chairwoman has warned.
The commission, to examine the abuse of children in institutions, was set up on a statutory basis in April under a High Court judge, Ms Justice Laffoy.
Ms Justice Laffoy was addressing the third public sitting of the commission on Tuesday. Previous sittings were concerned with issues of legal representation.
The previous public sitting of the commission, on July 20th, was adjourned to consider two points. These were the setting up of a scheme for legal expenses by the Minister for Education and Science, and consideration of a submission from a solicitor for a number of survivors, Mr James McGuill, in which he described the commission as it was constituted as "fundamentally flawed".
The commission had ruled on July 20th that those coming before the investigation committee should have one solicitor and one counsel of their own choosing.
Ms Justice Laffoy said on Tuesday that, despite this, the Department of Education and Science had not substantially altered proposals made the previous March and rejected by the commission as inadequate. It was still waiting for concrete new proposals from the Department.
Mr McGuill had suggested that the difficulties he had with the commission could be overcome by the Government agreeing to set up some kind of compensation tribunal, thereby removing the need for survivors to undertake traumatic civil action and establish the State's liability.
Judge Laffoy had passed on Mr McGuill's concerns to the Department in July. In a letter on September 21st, the Department said the Government had not yet made a decision on establishing a compensation body. However, the Department had circulated a report on the matter to all Departments whose Ministers were part of the Cabinet Committee on Child Abuse.
The chairwoman expressed the disappointment of the commission that there was not "a more obvious willingness on the part of the State to speedily address issues which are impeding the effective conduct of the tasks which the Oireachtas has given the commission to do".