THE taxpayer has paid out almost €140m to law firms representing victims of institutional abuse.The colossal legal bill exceeds the €128m contribution by religious orders as part of their indemnity deal with the State.
The religious orders' cash and property deal, signed in the dying days of the 2002 Government, was meant to help compensate victims for years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of brothers, priests and nuns.
But the much-criticised deal, brokered by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and ex-Education Minister Michael Woods, does not even cover victims' legal costs, which are -- along with any legal fees incurred by religious orders -- paid for by the taxpayer.
The Residential Institutions Redress Board (RIRB), set up seven years ago to compensate former residents of industrial schools and reformatories, has so far paid out almost €926m to abuse victims and their lawyers.
Three years ago there was a public outcry after abuse victims complained that some solicitors had charged them for legal fees when they had already been covered by the board.
The Law Society, the ruling body for solicitors, had to set up a helpline for people who believed they had been double-charged by solicitors in connection with appearances before the RIRB.
The board has revealed that it has paid out €138.5m to 817 firms of solicitors representing 11,134 applicants.
The final number of applicants is almost 15,000, with a number of law firms receiving multi-million euro payments.
The figures suggest that the final cost of the compensation deal will be over €1.02bn.
Legal fees have also absorbed almost a third of the overall costs incurred by the €60m-plus Child Abuse Commission, chaired by High Court Judge Sean Ryan.
Witnesses
About 334 firms of solicitors represented witnesses, including religious orders, and in almost all cases assessed by the commission's investigative committee, barristers were retained to represent them in addition to solicitors.
The commission, which published its harrowing report this week, was delayed by six legal actions in the High Court.
The RIRB received 14,584 claims for compensation from people living in Ireland and 30 other countries who said they suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse in the institutions from the 1930s onwards.
It has processed 13,190 of the applications and has made awards totalling €787.45m to victims.
The average compensation award to date is €63,320, and the largest award made so far was €300,500.
The board, which was established in December 2002, says it is "in the process of finalising the remaining 1,394 applications and is hopeful of completing the greater majority of cases by the end of the year".
If the average rate of payment continues, the board is expected to pay out almost €90m more in awards to victims and will also face additional legal costs.
It said 9,833 compensation offers were made following settlement talks and 2,603 awards followed hearings. Six applicants rejected awards and 754 applications were withdrawn, refused or resulted in no award.
The board said 27 people have been awarded between €200,000 and €300,000 -- the highest category of compensation.
Just over 50pc of the awards involved payments of between €50,000 and €100,000.
Almost 35pc got less than €50,000.
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