€193m redress plan legal bill

More than €193.5m has been paid out in legal costs relating to applications for the Government’s redress scheme for victims of institutional child abuse.

The Residential Institutions Redress Board (RIRB) said legal fees had accounted for almost 20% of all compensation awards paid to former residents of industrial schools and other institutions.

In its just published annual report for 2016, the RIRB said legal fees for processing all applications had totalled €193,539,124 including €628,004 approved during 2016.