Written answer
State Claims Agency
350. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of school sexual abuse related claims which have been lodged with the State Claims Agency, from 2014 to 2025 and to date in 2026; and the number of said claims which were settled out of court over the same time period; in tabular form. [47357/26]
Comment on this
351. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Youth the amount paid by the State Claims Agency in out-of-court settlements and plaintiff legal costs in relation to school sexual abuse claims, from 2014 to 2025 and to date in 2026, by anonymised case, in tabular form. [47359/26]
Comment on this
352. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education and Youth the amount paid through ex-gratia schemes in relation to school sexual abuse from 2014 to 2025, and to date in 2026. [47361/26]
Comment on this
I propose to take Questions Nos. 350, 351 and 352 together.
The ex gratia scheme was devised in order to implement the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgement in O’Keeffe v Ireland by providing those who had instituted legal proceedings against the State in respect of day school sexual abuse and subsequently discontinued those proceedings, and were therefore unable to reinstate their cases, with an opportunity to apply for an ex gratia payment of €84,000.
The scheme was established in 2015 and paused in 2019 following a report from the Independent Assessor Mr. Justice Iarflaith O'Neill. A revised ex gratia scheme, which broadened the scope of the Scheme and the type and nature of evidence that could be considered by the State Claims Agency in respect of individual applications, operated from 21 July 2021 to 20 July 2023. A total of 193 applications were received. Of these, 128 applications were approved while 65 were unsuccessful. Over €11m has been spent on the scheme, of which €10.75m has issued to the applicants as ex gratia payments, with the remainder providing for legal costs and the appeals process.
The State Claims Agency (SCA) is mandated to manage the cases referred to by the Deputy on behalf of the State. The SCA has been asked to collate the information sought by the Deputy, which I will arrange to have forwarded to her when it has been made available to my Department.