The crimes outlined in Mr Justice Sean Ryan's staggering report into clerical sexual abuse in Catholic church institutions has left the nation in shell-shock.Now, the debate has – inevitably and rather grotesquely – moved on to money, and in particular, who should pay for the compensation due to the many, many victims of abuse.
It centres on the infamous 2002 deal struck secretly, and without the advice or approval of the attorney general and the Department of Finance, but brokered by then education minister, Dr Michael Woods and his departmental secretary.
Under it, the church agreed to hand over €127m in property – much of it already used, refurbished and maintained by the state – in return for full indemnity from further compensation claims from victims.
Given what we know now about the extent of the physical, sexual and emotional abuse that was actively encouraged within some institutions and openly tolerated, it is easy to see why the church was eager to sign up.
The bill for compensation is likely to surpass €1.3bn – yet the church will meet barely one-tenth of the compensation likely to be claimed. If full redress was to be made for the thousands of abuse victims, the figure would be much higher.
Last week, the government came under pressure to renegotiate the deal.
Their answer was to blather in legal terms about why the deal could not be revisited, but in doing so, they have opened a can of worms in terms of the state's contradictory policy towards children abused by teachers working in schools managed by the church.
Though it is to this government's credit that it has not used public anger at the church's failure to provide more compensation as an excuse for it to try to do less, it also missed an opportunity to use the report as a means of pressurising the church to do more.
There can be no argument about the state's guilt. The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen said: "I think it is important to emphasise that the schools were under state supervision and the state had failed in its duty of care. The state had a contingent liability in any event."
It is gratifying to see the state being so honest about it. If only it would show the same honesty in relation to its dealing with the victims of abuse.
If the state is happy to take on such enormous responsibility for the abuse in the industrial schools and orphanages, why then is it still actively opposing those who are seeking compensation for abuse by their teachers in primary schools?
Louise O'Keeffe was a recent victim of the Department of Education's policy. She lost her case for compensation for being abused by a teacher because the courts found that, although the teacher's salary was paid by the state, in a school funded by the state, and that she was legally bound by the state to go to school, technically, the Catholic church as school manager was that teacher's employer.
The Department of Education pursued her for costs and threatened to take possession of her home before the Supreme Court told them to stop. Yet this has not prevented the state from using the same tactics on other victims.
Failure to do the right thing by people such as Louise O'Keeffe, and to clarify the loopholes of responsibility into which she and people like her fall, raises enormous questions about the role of the church within our schools.
In the same way as the church was separated from legislation covering areas of personal, moral responsibility such as divorce, homosexuality and contraception, it is now time to begin a real and serious discussion about removing it from control of our educational system, particularly from control of primary schools.
If the church wishes to continue in education, then it should do so within the private sector. If this calls for constitutional reform, then so be it.
The cabinet meets on Tuesday to discuss the recommendations of the report to see what action needs to be taken. There are definite priorities.
On a wider level, the recommendations about the need to put the Children First childcare regulations on a mandatory footing must be prioritised.
So too must a thorough review of childcare procedures to ensure that best international practice is part of our childcare system – Monageer taught us that.
Funding has to be made available for this and there are plenty of areas where money is being spent that are not as important as children's lives.
The long-promised children's rights referendum must be prioritised too. If there was a political will to drive this through, it would happen.
Political leaders must bring a new principles-based impetus to the constitutional amendment and free themselves from the tangled web of legalities that has distracted them from taking action – the nation wants constitutional equality for all children and it doesn't care whether their parents are married or not.
More directly, as far as the victims of these terrible crimes are concerned, the first priority should be to ensure their needs are fully met.
There should be an open review of the workings of the Residential Institutions Redress Board, and if there are complaints, these should be acknowledged and fairly dealt with.
The other huge omission has been the failure to prosecute any of these crimes. If abusers – such as the brother who forced a child to eat his own excrement – are still alive, and a case can be made, then the DPP and gardaí should make an honest attempt to bring a prosecution.
And it should be a prosecutable offence to minimise or deny the extent of the horrific crimes committed on vulnerable and defenceless children. Many of the apologies issued again last week by religious orders spoke of the hurt or distress caused.
This is a criminal understatement of the depraved sexual, physical and emotional abuse perpetrated by members of their congregations.
The legacy of physical, emotional problems for many victims remains. Alcoholism and mental illness, as well as homelessness, are common issues.
Alice Leahy, founder of the Trust foundation, has suggested a most fitting monument: a comfortable, accessible, friendly hostel where those who have suffered most all their lives could at last find a refuge of sorts.
Perhaps the religious congregations could see their way to lifting their €127m cap by paying for it.
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