Introduction
Since the scandal of the systematic abuse of children in institutions to which they were sent and detained by the State, or in institutions which were meant to be regulated and inspected by the State, became a major public concern at the turn of the century, two major pieces of legislation have been passed.

The first was the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000. This Act established the Commission which reported earlier this month: the Ryan Report. The Commission's job was, in short, to inquire into the abuse of children in institutions; to determine the causes, nature, circumstances and extent of such abuse; and to determine the extent to which the institutions themselves, the systems of management, administration, operation, supervision, inspection and regulation and the manner in which management and oversight functions were performed by the persons in whom they were vested all contributed to the occurrence of abuse.

The other Act was the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002. That Act set up a Redress Board, whose function was, through an informal and non-adversarial procedure, to make awards to former residents of institutions who had received injuries consistent with abuse.

Following from the Ryan Report, it is now clear that both of these Acts suffered from significant defects. Many of these defects have been highlighted by the victims and survivors of these institutions, who have now had to deal with the Acts.

The Bill accordingly attempts to rectify the defects in the two original Acts, so far as they continue to apply to the group of citizens whose lives continue to be affected by the defects in those two Acts.

It goes without saying that this Bill is not of itself by any means a full or satisfactory response. But it is a necessary part of any sufficient response.

This Bill is part, but only a part, of an attempt to acknowledge the failure of the State and of religious congregations to protect children from abuse, the pain and suffering they endured and that the Ryan Report vindicates their claims of abusive crimes committed against them by members of religious congregations and others while they were ostensibly in State care or under State supervision.

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