IRELAND
The Journal
I don’t want to see them bankrupted. They could solve this issue honourably and with dignity by handing over the keys to the properties used for educational purposes to the Irish government, to the Irish people.
[It would be] as a public token of their remorse and their sympathy with the victims and the relatives of the victims of this terrible period in Irish history.
THAT’S WHAT FORMER education minister Ruairi Quinn said today in response to a report that shows less than 14% of the total costs of the child abuse scandal has been paid by religious institutions.
The Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy, meanwhile, have defended the amounts they’ve paid in compensation for child abuse and investigation costs after coming under fire because of the contents of the report by the Comptroller & Auditor General, published yesterday.
The report showed that €209 million had been paid by religious institutions for their role in institutional child abuse. Current costs to the State – including an inquiry, a survivor redress scheme and related survivor supports – add up to €1.5 billion.
But because of the fall in the value of properties used as payment to the state, as well as the rising costs of the inquiry, the religious institutions responsible aren’t paying half anymore, and the State no longer has the legal authority to change the amount because of a deal made back in 2002.
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