THE CATHOLIC bishops last night pledged to “work closely with religious congregations and institutes in addressing the needs of survivors of abuse and in the healing process” following publication of the Ryan commission report last Wednesday.
However, in a statement following a day-long meeting of the Standing Committee of the Irish Bishops’ Conference yesterday, they made no reference to the controversial 2002 church/State redress deal.
Earlier yesterday the Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin and Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh said the deal should be revisited and the 18 congregations concerned should contribute more.
On Sunday a similar call was made by Bishop of Down Noel Traenor and by Fr Tim Bartlett, general assistant to Cardinal Brady.
Responding to these calls in a statement yesterday afternoon, the 18 religious congregations indicated they would not be revisiting the 2002 deal. They said that “rather than re-opening the terms of the agreement reached with government in 2002, we reiterate our commitment to working with those who suffered enormously while in our care. We must find the best and most appropriate ways of directly assisting them. We will meet again in the coming days to explore the detail of our responses”.
They were supported by the Conference of Religious of Ireland (Cori) which, in a separate statement, said it “supports the 18 congregations whose institutions were investigated by the Ryan report in their efforts to find the best and most appropriate ways forward”.
The 2002 agreement between the congregations and the State indemnified the religious orders from all redress claims made by victims in exchange for payments and property transfers totalling €127 million. The total bill for the redress scheme is likely to be about €1.3 billion.
Speaking on RTÉ's Questions and Answerslast night, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said the orders should put money into a trust to help victims rather than contribute to the State compensation fund which, he said, would merely reduce the State's share of the bill.
Ón the same programme, an abuse victim and former Fianna Fáil mayor told Mr Dempsey that the Government had not “the foggiest” understanding of victims’ pain. In an emotive address, he told the Minister: “You can change it. You are the Government of this State. You run this State. Stop mealy-mouthing. I am sick of it. You are turning me off voting Fianna Fáil which I have done since the day I could vote.
The former Labour Party leader, Pat Rabbitte, said yesterday’s statement from the congregations was “a calculated snub to public opinion and a further insult to the thousands of children who were raped, abused, brutalised, neglected and exploited in the institutions controlled by these organisations”.
The congregations, he said, were “already out of step with the diocesan bishops and it is clear that if they persist with this attitude they will find themselves isolated from the rest of Irish society”.
At least €745,000 has been paid by the State under the terms of the indemnity agreed with the 18 congregations as part of the 2002 deal. The indemnity ran until the end of 2005, while such indemnity was refused to Protestant homes where there were also allegations of abuse.
Compensation was awarded against the State in High Court actions by three former residents of St Joseph’s orphanage in Kilkenny under the terms of the indemnity. On March 1st, 2005, the High Court awarded Raymond Noctor €370,000 compensation, one of the highest such figures in an abuse case, following severe sexual abuse by care worker David Murray at St Joseph’s from 1972.
In a High Court judgment on March 26th, 2006, Justice Diarmuid O’Donovan awarded David Connellan €300,000 for “vicious and demeaning” physical, sexual, emotional and racial abuse over five years at St Joseph’s by female and male carers. In a High Court decision on June 30th, 2003, Justice Kevin O’Higgins awarded Michael Delahunty €75,000 for sexual assault by Myles Brady at St Joseph’s in 1976.
The State refused to provide a Church of Ireland charity with an indemnity for child abuse compensation claims over a group of children's homes it operated. However, all four homes run by the Smyly Trust were covered under the State redress scheme, in light of allegations of serious physical and sexual abuse dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.
