A redress scheme for victims of sexual abuse in schools cannot wait until a full inquiry is completed, the Taoiseach Simon Harris said yesterday, suggesting an acceleration of compensation proposals which have not yet been agreed by Government.
While there is general agreement in Government that a redress scheme for victims will be necessary, there is growing concern at the potential costs which some senior figures fear could run into the billions.
Senior sources pointed out that the Government has not decided on a redress scheme and a senior officials group will have to make recommendations on the Commission of Investigation before any plan for compensating victims is agreed.
But the Taoiseach’s comments suggested impatience with a more cautious approach when he told reporters in Kyiv, Ukraine, that compensation for those abused in religious-run schools could not be “parked” until after a full statutory inquiry into the abuse was completed.
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Resolving the question of how to offer redress to victims of abuse could not wait until the end of the coming Commission of Investigation process, he said.
“We’ve got to be honest from the start, if we don’t get this right in terms of how we structure it, then we have something that runs for years and years and years without answers and I know that’s the last thing the survivors want,” he said.
Survivors had been expressing their desire for a process that found “truth and justice”, in a more efficient manner than previous statutory inquiries, he said. “People can’t wait five, six, seven years, longer,” he said.
How has the Government responded to the schools abuse report?
Mr Harris said religious orders who ran the schools now had to “step up” when it came to redress.
“I welcome statements of regret and sorrow, and I don’t doubt the bone fides of any order, it is better to have those statements. They will be hollow words if they are just statements saying we’re sorry,” he said.
The record of religious orders contributing to State compensation schemes in the past had been “underwhelming” to put it politely, Mr Harris said.
But there is growing worry in Government about the potential costs of any redress scheme and a concern that the scale of any potential liability should be evaluated before a decision to proceed is made.
Several senior Coalition sources, all speaking on condition of anonymity because, they said, of the sensitivity of the subject, attested to the concerns at the highest official and political levels.
One senior figure said that the costs of a redress scheme were “impossible to comprehend” but that the Government “can’t say no”.
“I’m not saying it’s wrong, just that it’s impossible to limit now,” said another source, describing it as a “very substantial contingent liability” that had now been added to the State’s balance sheet.
One person previously briefed on the issue estimated that the total costs of the inquiry that the Government has promised, and any subsequent redress scheme, could exceed €5 billion.
Other sources however noted that there had been no Government decision on a redress scheme — just one to establish a high-level group to make recommendations on the next steps. The Coalition has committed to a statutory inquiry into the abuse, which is likely, said sources to include all schools rather than just those run by religious orders.
All sources referred to the costs of previous redress schemes. In the case of the scheme to compensate victims of abuse in residential institutions, the estimated cost of €250 million rose to €1.245 billion, plus some €200 million in legal costs. Religious orders contributed less than €250 million in total.
Last night the Garda appealed to any victims or witnesses to historic sexual abuse crimes to contact them.
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