A redress scheme was one of the key recommendations of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry conducted by Sir Anthony Hart.

The former High Court judge was appointed to chair the inquiry in 2013 and issued his final report in 2017, but no progress has been made on implementing his recommendations since the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

At the start of the new legal term in September, the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan, highlighted the lack of progress as an example of “the real impact a lack of government in Northern Ireland has on the lives of local people”.

The Executive Office has published three proposed bills to establish a Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse; a Redress Board; and a compensation scheme.

David Sterling, head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, said: “I have delivered on my undertaking given earlier in the year to victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse, that The Executive Office would prepare the necessary legislation to establish a Redress Board and a Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse.

“This has been a challenging and complex area of work, particularly in the absence of an Executive, however we owe it to the victims and survivors to do all we can for them. I urge anyone who has an interest to contribute to this consultation on the draft legislation.”

The consultation is now open and will run for a 12-week period until 10 February 2019. When complete, the proposed legislation will be for ministers to consider and take forward.

Mr Sterling said: “I am committed to moving to implementation, as quickly as possible, once ministers have taken the necessary decisions. I assured victims and survivors of this commitment when I met with their representatives today just before the consultation was officially launched.”