THE redress scheme should be reopened to take late applications from victims of child abuse at religious institutions who were unaware of their right to compensation, Labour claimed yesterday.And the "gagging clause", which made it a criminal offence for victims and survivors to speak about their experience at the redress board, must be removed by lifting the relevant section of the Redress Act.
Publishing the party's Institutional Child Abuse Bill, Labour's deputy leader Joan Burton said people had been "gagged" by the penalties for breaking the harsh confidentiality clause.
These include a fine of €2,000 or six months in jail on summary conviction in the District Court or €25,000 or two years in jail on indictment.
Abuse survivor Christine Buckley of the Aislinn Centre, which provides support to abuse victims, last night said the redress board should never have been put in place in the first instance until an inquiry was complete.
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