The Cabinet is meeting on Friday afternoon to sign off on a €24 million redress package for the families of victims of the Stardust disaster.
Forty-eight people died as a result of the fire in the Stardust nightclub in north Dublin in the early hours of February 14th, 1981.
The Cabinet is holding an incorporeal meeting to approve the planned redress package.
Taoiseach Simon Harris and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee have brought forward a memo on the matter following the conclusion of discussions between the Government and the representatives of the families.
These discussions followed the Stardust inquest verdict of unlawful killing last April.
The Cabinet will also note that the Taoiseach delivered a State apology on April 23rd, followed by individual letters of apology to the families from the Taoiseach, and that a Ceremony of Commemoration was held in the Garden of Remembrance on June 23rd last.
Details of the redress scheme for survivors and families bereaved by the 1981 Stardust disaster emerged in June.
Sara Moorehead, SC, a barrister specialising in mediation, professional negligence and insurance law, was appointed to engage on behalf of the State with the 45 families’ legal representatives.
Under the plans there was to be a “two-phased approach” to the engagement on redress.
Phase one would deliver “a single, non-scaled ex gratia payment in respect of each the 48 victims of the fire and phase two would be an “exceptionality phase for survivors of the fire in special circumstances”.
Ms Moorehead was to engage with the legal representatives of the families, either their solicitor or nominated counsel with the goal of reaching an agreement on phase one by end July.
The plan once agreement was reached was for a memorandum to be brought to Government to note and approve the settlement before engagement started on phase two.
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