Fine Gael is to seek the renegotiation of the deal under which the State indemnified religious orders against institutional child abuse compensation claims in exchange for a €128 million contribution to the cost of such claims.
The party's education spokeswoman, Ms Olwyn Enright, said yesterday she intended to raise the issue in the Dáil this week and at the Oireachtas Committee on Education. She called on the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, to seek legal advice on whether he could reopen the deal.
"The Minister has stated that he is happy with the deal, but the number of cases now coming to the redress board and the level of compensation awarded [last week\] in the High Court raise serious questions about the way in which the Government has managed this issue," she said.
"Without knowing the full extent of the compensation to be paid to victims of abuse, the Government agreed to cap the contribution which it would receive from the religious congregation at €128 million. It is now clear that this was a short-sighted and potentially very expensive decision by the Minister. The fact that the decision was taken in the immediate aftermath of the election suggests that it had more to do with the Government's desire to get money into the State's coffers than any sensible management of the issue."
Meanwhile, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee is to begin an examination of the deal next month.
The investigation may hear testimony from the Minister, Mr Dempsey, his predecessor, Dr Michael Woods, senior Department of Education officials and leading religious figures.
Under the deal, the State agreed to receive €128 million from religious orders who ran residential institutions as a contribution to a fund from which those who made successful abuse claims will be paid.
The State will pay the balance of the claims, on the grounds that children who were abused in religious-run institutions were in the care of the State, and that therefore the State bears a substantial amount of the liability.
Dr Woods said last year that the total claims bill would be between €200 million and €500 million.
However, critics of the deal say this was based on a serious underestimation of the numbers who will make successful claims and the amounts that will be awarded by the Residential Institutions Redress Board.