An advocacy group for survivors of sexual abuse at Spiritan schools has expressed concern that the statutory inquiry being planned by Government, into abuses at boarding and day schools run by religious orders, may set back or delay restorative justice or similar support programmes for survivors.
Such programmes are already in operation or under negotiation with the various religious orders which ran the schools.
Restore Together, which has supported more than 300 survivors of sexual abuse at Spiritan schools, has written to Minister for Education Norma Foley seeking an urgent meeting on the matter.
The group said it would welcome a statutory inquiry, but only “if it is structured to ensure that there is no further delay in survivors getting immediate access to the justice they urgently need. Survivors have carried the burden of abuse for decades and are suffering on a daily basis. Every delay adds to their suffering and impedes their recovery.”
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Last Tuesday, leaders of the Government parties met Ms Foley to discuss a more than 700-page scoping report, prepared by senior counsel Mary O’Toole following discussion with abuse survivors and presented to the Minister last month. It is believed the report recommended setting up a statutory inquiry into allegations of abuse at boarding and day schools run by religious orders. It could examine the sexual abuse of potentially thousands of children.
The scoping report and its recommendations were expected to be discussed by the Cabinet on Wednesday last but that was postponed. Officials are to continue working on a plan for publication of the scoping report, likely to be approved by the Cabinet next September, after which a statutory inquiry is expected to be established.
It was also reported this week that once such an inquiry had concluded, a redress scheme would be set up, to be funded at least in part by contributions from the religious orders.
It is this which most troubles the Restore Together group. “Inquiries and tribunals can take many years and far too long before bringing justice and closure for those involved. Restore Together’s strong belief is that any statutory inquiry must be structured to facilitate the concurrent operation of parallel strands aimed at providing healing to victim/survivors,” it said.
That would mean “each person’s individual circumstances could be swiftly addressed under one strand without having to wait for the conclusions and findings of the strand dealing with examining wider systemic issues of how and why such abuse took place and was concealed,” it said.
“Some religious orders have already publicly committed to positive steps such as Restorative Justice being administered for the benefit of victims/ survivors. Some orders have also committed to redress schemes for those who suffered. All of this progress has taken years of work to achieve and must not be displaced or delayed by any initiative by the Government,” it said.
“It has taken enormous courage for the victims/ survivors to seek help and justice from a modern and progressive Irish society that is finally open to both listening to and believing them. For many this has been a very painful step to take. However, survivors of Spiritan abuse expected the process of justice and healing would be much further along than it currently is. Every delay is retraumatising for them and damaging to their health. The idea that a statutory inquiry might result in further delays is already causing great stress in our community,” it said.
Restore Together is currently working with the Spiritans “to bring healing to those who suffered as children and continue to suffer as adults through a professionally guided and administered programme of Restorative Justice”
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