The Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady has said the 2002 deal to compensate victims of abuse in institutions run by religious congregations should be revisited. Cardinal Brady said any new deal should bear in mind the needs of victims.
"It should be revisited and taken into consideration the potential of people to pay and above all the needs of the victims - we have to keep coming back to that," he said.
Cardinal Brady was speaking in Maynooth where bishops are meeting to consider their response to the report of the Commission on Child Abuse published last week.
His comments echo those made by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, who has called on Catholic religious congregations to make a “new gesture of recognition” of the abuse carried out in institutions they ran.
In today’s Irish Times, Dr Martin described as “stunning” the fact that implementation of a redress agreement made with the State seven years ago has yet to be fully completed.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley today hinted that progress could be made on increasing the amount of money the church will contribute to the compensation scheme to victims of abuse.
Speaking this morning, Mr Gormley said “I think that if the contracting parties both agree to reopen, then we can make progress”.
He said: “In relation to legalities it’s not clear yet because the AG [Attorney General] has to brief the Cabinet and he will do so tomorrow.
“We do need to bring closure to this very difficult chapter in our history.”
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.
Mr Gormely said he welcomed Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin’s comments in this morning’s Irish Times as “a new development and a sign of progress”.
“It sounds to me from what Diarmuid Martin and others have said there could be some movement and I would welcome that.”
Mr Gormley was critical of the 2002 deal and said it seemed the State was left “carrying the overwhelming burden of it”.
Addressing the religious congregations who ran institutions criticised in the Child Abuse Commission report, Dr Martin said: “The fact that the mechanisms of fulfilling your side of that agreement have not yet been brought to completion is stunning,” he writes.
“There may have been legal difficulties, but they are really a poor excuse after so many years.
“Whatever happens with regards to renegotiating that agreement, you cannot just leave things as they are.
“There are many ways in which substantial financial investment in supporting survivors and their families can be brought about, perhaps in creative ways which would once again redeem your own charism as educators of the poor.
“In many ways it is your last chance to render honour to charismatic founders and to so many good members of your congregations who feel tarnished,” Dr Martin writes.
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