A unique body with the powers of the High Court but a therapeutic function is to be established under the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Bill, published yesterday.
The Bill provides for the establishment of the commission, chaired by Ms Justice Mary Laffoy of the High Court, on a statutory basis. It has existed on an administrative basis since last August.
As reported in The Irish Times last week, it will have a confidential committee and an investigation committee, separating its investigating and therapeutic functions. Announcing the Bill's publication, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, who inherited it from his predecessor Mr Micheal Martin, said the legislation closely followed the recommendations in the two reports from the commission, which were also published. "It is well-balanced legislation," he said. "The victims are number one at all times and their sensitivities are respected."
He said £4 million would be set aside for providing a counselling service for victims.
The remit of the commission is wider than expected. It can inquire into allegations of abuse in any institution where a child was cared for other than the family - not only orphanages, reformatories and industrial schools, but also hospitals and secondary schools, public or private.
The time-span covered is from 1940 to 1999, but the commission will be able to investigate allegations outside this period.
The commission will have a wide degree of latitude in carrying out its inquiries and may take evidence outside the State if necessary. The Government will confer additional powers on it if the commission seeks them.
Its investigating committee will have the powers of the High Court to compel witnesses, to order the discovery of documents and to impose penalties on a person who refuses to testify. It will be an offence to destroy any relevant documents after yesterday, when the Bill was published.
In its report it will identify institutions where abuse took place, name perpetrators and, where appropriate, the management of these institutions and also state what responsibility, if any, lay with the regulatory authority. It will not make reference to specific cases.
Victims may choose to give evidence to either committee, or may change the committee to which they are giving evidence. They will also receive expenses for travelling and attending the commission.
While specific allegations of abuse will be heard in private by both committees, it will be up to the commission whether its examination of institutions or Government departments will be in public or in private.
The commission will be exempted from the requirements to report to the Garda allegations of abuse, unless it considers that there is an ongoing risk to life or threat of abuse of a child. It may make interim reports, and these, as well as the final report, will go to the Garda, which may initiate prosecutions based on the report.
There will be restrictions on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act where access to the records requested could prejudice the work of the Commission.
The one recommendation in the reports of the commission which does not appear in the legislation is that which proposed that those appearing before it, who could not afford legal representation, would get it at the expense of the State. It suggested that this be done through the Attorney General's Office, the Legal Aid Board or a Department of State.
However, Dr Woods told The Irish Times that his Department, the office of the Attorney General, the Department of Finance and the commission were working on a scheme to provide such legal aid. The details of this scheme should be published with in two or three weeks, he said.
He said there were no financial limits set on the work of the commission. He hoped it could be introduced into the Dail within two or three weeks, and that it would have the support of the Opposition.