Former residents of industrial schools and orphanages who go before the redress board are being asked to pay the balance between fees estimated as reasonable by the Taxing Master for a psychiatrist's report on their experiences, and the psychiatrist's actual fee. In most instances former residents agree to pay the balance.
Christine Buckley of the Aislinn Centre in Dublin, which assists former residents of such institutions, said she was aware of "countless" examples of this. She described it as "more of the rip-off" where former residents were concerned. Last year there were allegations that some solicitors, whose expenses were covered in full by the redress board, had also charged former residents for their services.
Ms Buckley said yesterday she received complaints from former residents from "all over the country" about having to pay the balance of a psychiatrist's fee. She also came across "several" more on a visit to England recently.
In a letter seen by The Irish Times, a leading Irish psychiatrist wrote to a woman who had been resident as a child in a Munster institution and for whom the psychiatrist had prepared a report for the Redress Board.
The letter, dated April 20th, 2006, said the report fee was €1,000 but the redress board "would only pay €750." It continued: "We can take the matter to taxing [ the Taxing Master] to enable recovery of the outstanding amount. I have done this in the past. It is a painstaking and difficult procedure. Please let me know your views." The woman concerned said she intended to pay the €250 balance. "I am lucky I can afford it," she said, but wondered about "the thousands who cannot. If you get a low award from the Redress, it [ the balance] can cause considerable distress," she said.
The psychiatrist who sent that letter, and did not wish to be named, said the Taxing Master had set a maximum fee of €750 for preparation of redress board reports, regardless of time spent on cases or work involved. When the actual fee went above that, a psychiatrist could go down the Taxing Master route, so delaying payment of any award to the former resident until resolved, or write to the former resident, as above. The psychiatrist contrasted this with the situation of English psychiatrists, who were paid the full fee in such cases. Psychiatrist Michael Corry, who prepared reports in three cases for the redress board, said a fee of between €1,500 and €2,000 would be reasonable for the preparation of reports due to the severity of cases involved and the time necessary for doing them.
He described going to the Taxing Master as taking "the black hole of Calcutta" route.
He said most psychiatrists so distrusted solicitors in general that they would no longer present them with reports until they were paid first. He was "owed thousands" by solicitors.
