AQW 8949/22-27 Written question to the First Minister and deputy First Minister
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister for their assessment of the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board criteria including that a spouse, partner and child is eligible to apply on behalf of a deceased person, but not a sibling.
Asked by Connie Egan MLA on 14 March 2024
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 14 March 2024
- Answer due by
- 3 April 2024
- Answered
- 12 April 202429 days after tabling
- Department
- The Executive Office
- Priority question
- No
Answer
Under the direction of the former Head of the Civil Service (HOCS), draft legislation based wholly on the Hart Report recommendations was developed in 2018.
Following a full 16-week consultation exercise, which received 526 responses, a consultation report, policy position paper and draft legislation were sent to the then Secretary of State. Thereafter, at the request of the Secretary of State, the former HOCS led a series of discussions with local political parties to agree their position on those policy issues. The draft Bill to establish the Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse (COSICA) and the HIA Redress Board reflected that political consensus and subsequently the legislation was enacted on 5 November 2019.
The Hart Report recognised that not all redress schemes allowed surviving spouses or children to receive part or all of the compensation that an abused person would have received before they died. However, the Hart Report noted that the adverse experiences of victims and survivors had an impact throughout their adult lives when it came to being a parent or spouse, and that their families suffered as a result of that childhood experience. Hart therefore recommended that it would be just and humane that only those directly affected, namely the spouse or children of a deceased individual should be able to claim 75% of the compensation that would have been awarded to their spouse or parent. However, following responses to the consultation and engagement with the local political parties, it was agreed that no reduction would be made to any application made in respect of a deceased individual.
Section 6 of the Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act 2019 provides for applications in respect of entitlement to claim compensation in respect of a deceased person.