Redress board ‘less costly than courts’

THE cost of compensating victims of abuse in religious institutions would have been far higher than the present estimate of €650 million if the cases had been allowed to go to court, a TD said yesterday.

Rather than being processed through the courts, compensation is being awarded by the Residential Institutions Redress Board.

Thus far, €156.3m in compensation has been awarded to abuse victims by the redress board. Out of the 4,725 cases before the board, 2,017 have so far resulted in awards, with claims averaging €77,500.