Pause affects crime-compensation decisions
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal awarded just under €17.7 million to victims of violent crime last year, its annual report shows.
The body administers a scheme that provides compensation to victims of violent crime in the State, as well as a separate compensation scheme for prison officers who suffer personal injuries due to a violent crime experienced in the course of their duties.
The total amount awarded was up from €10 million in 2024, despite a pause in decision-making in the crime-compensation scheme that took effect in October last year as the body awaited an important ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
As a result, the number of awards fell to 165 from 203 the previous year.
Last year, 84 applicants also received total awards of almost €973,000 under the prison-officer scheme.
Revised scheme
The CJEU judgment found that national schemes could not exclude compensation for pain and suffering, as well as material losses.
As a result of the ruling, the Minister for Justice earlier this year published a revised scheme that also includes a provision for guidelines on the value of awards that can be made by the tribunal.
Writing in the 2025 annual report, tribunal chair Patricia Sheehy Skeffington described the pause in decision-making as “a difficult decision” that was taken to preserve the rights of victims of crime.
She said that the body looked forward to the publication of ministerial guidelines that will enable it to make awards of compensation in full compliance with an EU directive on the issue.
New applications up
The report shows that a combined total of 345 new applications were made under both schemes last year – up 15% compared with 2024. There were 252 applications under the general scheme and 93 under the prison-officer scheme.
As a result of the pause, however, the number of files sent to tribunal members for decision during the year fell from 557 to 365, while the 65 appeal hearings held throughout the year was down from 84 a year earlier.
As well as the chair, the body is made up of qualified barristers and solicitors who work on a part-time basis. They received fees totalling €233,200 last year – up from €227,000 in 2024.