Victor Boyhan demands clarity on commission and redress plans
Victor Boyhan addressed the Government-established Commission of Investigation into the handling of hysterical child sexual abuse in day and boarding schools, noting the Commission's independence and the appointment of its Chair. He warned that a separate high-level interdepartmental group is examining potential redress and urged Parliament to remain vigilant, requesting the minister for Education to brief members in the first quarter of next year and stressing support for survivors.
Commission details
The Commission of Investigation was established by the Government to examine the handling of hysterical child sexual abuse in day and boarding schools. The Chair is Mr Justice Michael McGrath, appointed on 1 October 2025, and the Commission is independent in its role and duties. Boyhan said it would not be appropriate to discuss the Commission's work in detail at this stage, and noted that survivors will be engaged and notified of the due processes to follow.
Interdepartmental group and redress
A high-level interdepartmental group (IGG) has been set up to advise the Government and to consider the issue of a potential redress scheme. Boyhan highlighted that the Commission does not have powers to award redress and that there is currently no redress scheme in place. He emphasised that the two strands of work - the Commission's investigation and the IGG's redress work - are running in parallel.
Parliamentary follow-up
Boyhan reported he had written to the minister for Education and received a detailed response the next morning. He asked that the minister be invited to brief the Oireachtas in the first quarter of next year on the interdepartmental aspects of the work, and offered to make the letter available to the Leader. He urged fellow parliamentarians to keep the issue on their schedule and to follow up in a timely manner.
Support for survivors
Boyhan repeatedly stressed the need to support survivors and to ensure they are kept informed of processes and avenues for engagement. He referenced recent media coverage, including communications related to Willow Park at Black Rock, and called for vigilance by parliamentarians as the investigations and redress discussions proceed.
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Thank you, Cohearley. Leader, today I want to touch on very briefly the issue of the Commission investigation that has been established by the Government to investigate the handling of hysterical child sexual abuse in our day in boarding schools. I do not want to comment on the case that was made yesterday, other than to say it clearly hit the media last night, and there has been a lot of communications with all Oireachtas members in relation to it, in relation to Willow Park at Black Rock. Whenever I wrote a brief note to the Minister for Education last night, and to her credit at eight o'clock this morning, I received a detailed response. There is one I want to put on the record, and I want to thank Minister Hildegard Nocton. In essence, without sharing the full content of the letter, I have now had clarification that the Commission of Investigation has been established by the Government to investigate the handling of hysterical child sexual abuse in our day in boarding schools. The Chair is, of course, Mr Justice Michael McGrath. He was appointed on the 1st of October 2025. The Commission is independent in its role and in its duties, therefore it would not be appropriate for me to talk at any great length about it here at this point in time, other than to say that the survivors will be engaged with and will be notified of the due processes to follow. I suppose what was very important in this correspondence was that, from the Minister this morning, a high-level interdepartmental group, IGG, has been established and to advise the Government. And I suppose really my concern here is that this group will look at the issue of potential redress scheme. So clearly there is no redress scheme in place. There is no redress, or the powers to award redress under the reference here of the Commission. So what I would say is, there are two sets of work in parallel. There is the Commission doing its investigation, there is this important high-level interdepartmental group within the Minister going on, and they are running in parallel, but we have to be vigilant as Parliamentarians here. There has been a lot of conversation, a lot of debate, a lot of engagement of various pieces of legislation, and what I would say is, I would like to ask in due time, in the first quarter of next year, that we would have the Minister for Education in to fill us in on the interdepartmental aspects of this piece of important work. The Minister is on record, I can make the letter available to you, Leader, but if we could follow up in a timely manner in the first quarter of next year, but let us not lose sight here and be there to support the various people involved, the various survivors in this case. So the Minister has this important interdepartmental group sitting to look at the parallel issues of redress, and who will ultimately pick up the tabs for that redress, or partially take up the tabs for that redress. So I would ask if you would bear that in mind and keep it on your schedule for the early part of next year. Thank you.
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