EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn is pressing ahead with his meeting to
demand a bigger contribution to the child abuse bill from the religious
orders -- despite the threat of a boycott.
Just two of the 18 religious orders contacted by the Irish Independent confirmed that they would turn up for the meeting in the Department of Education on Friday.
The
De La Salle Brothers and the Sisters of Nazareth said they would not be
there because they wanted to meet Mr Quinn at a later stage.
A
source close to several of the congregations last night predicted others
might also avoid taking part -- and that those who did turn up would
"just listen" to Mr Quinn rather than pledge any further contributions.
Mr
Quinn has called the meeting as a first step in his plan to get the
religious orders to contribute €200m more to the €1.3bn bill for
compensating victims of child abuse in industrial schools run by the
religious orders.
A spokeswoman for Mr Quinn confirmed the meeting
was going ahead at 2pm on Friday.
She said the minister was still
looking for congregations named in the Ryan Report to transfer ownership
of schools to the State to help make up the €200m shortfall.
But
the religious orders are adamant they never agreed to a 50:50 split of
the €1.3bn compensation bill when they agreed to make further
contributions after the publication of the Ryan Report in 2009.
It
is understood some religious orders have made a full contribution to
the €476m pledged so far -- but that others have not come up to the
mark.
Some of the religious congregations, such as the Rosminians
and Good Shepherd Sisters, have said they have nothing more to
contribute.
Under Mr Quinn's plan, the schools owned by the
religious orders would continue to operate under their patronage until
the schools themselves decided otherwise.
But the taxpayer would be
given the legal ownership of those properties, so they could not be sold
in the future.
However, none of the religious orders contacted by the Irish Independent last night were willing to openly back this plan.
The
Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul confirmed they would meet Mr
Quinn but said they had "nothing further to add at this time".
The
Religious Sisters of Charity said it would be attending the meeting
with Mr Quinn -- but did not say if it approved of his school transfer
plan.
Endemic
The Ryan Report into the
industrial schools run by the religious orders said sexual abuse was
endemic in boys' institutions but different in girls' institutions.
It
found a "climate of fear" permeated most of them, with children living
in the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming
from.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday highlighted the issue of
sexual abuse by launching a DVD about disabled women from Co Mayo who
were sexually abused.
"It challenges, informs, educates and most
of all shines a light under a dark rock. Unfortunately, sexual violence
still continues to plague our society. It has a devastating effect on
victims and their families," he said.
Meanwhile, Simon Harris, a Fine Gael
TD from Wicklow, yesterday called on each bishop in the Catholic Church
to reveal how many priests in their diocese are refusing to undergo
garda vetting.
The refusal of some priests to be vetted was
highlighted by the church's own child protection body, the National
Board for Safeguarding Children.