Quinn orders abuse fund to destroy reports on survivors

IRELAND
Irish Independent

SHANE PHELAN PUBLIC AFFAIRS EDITOR – 19 OCTOBER 2013

EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn has ordered the state body in charge of a €110m fund for victims of institutional abuse to destroy internal reports following an embarrassing gaffe.

The move follows a major row between survivors and the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund (RISF) after officials there breached strict rules governing the use of abuse victims’ personal data.

The fund was set up earlier this year to administer money pledged by religious congregations to support the needs of 15,000 survivors of institutional abuse.

But objections were raised when the RISF used data supplied by the Redress Board, a previous compensation scheme for victims of institutional abuse, to analyse gender, age and geographical patterns of survivors.

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