Commission To Inquire Into Child Abuse - 2002 Compensation Deal and The Question of Blame

2002 Compensation Deal and The Question of Blame

A further contentious aspect arises from an "indemnity deal" signed on 5 June 2002. This was between two representatives of the Conference of Religious of Ireland (Cori) (an umbrella group representing 138 religious congregations) on behalf of 18 religious Orders that had run the residential institutions, and the then Minister Michael Woods. This indemnified the Orders from legal action, whereby any costs would now be met by the Irish taxpayer, in return for a transfer of property and assets to the government worth €128 million. No representatives of the victims were involved in these negotiations. The original plan was to provide adequate funds for the Redress Board, but in the interim an unexpectedly large number of claimants has come forward.

Not only was the deal inadequate to cover the costs of CICA itself, let alone any compensation, but it remained secret until revealed by the media in January 2003. Further, the deal was completed under a caretaker government, at the time of the 2002 election, on the last day possible, and could thus neither be approved by Cabinet nor be debated in the Dáil. Given that Catholic Orders insisted on educating all the children in question, it unfairly imposes indirect costs on non-Catholic or non-Christian taxpayers.

In the circumstances, and given a net cost to the Irish taxpayer approaching €1,000,000,000, its legality may be questioned. Mr. Woods was criticised by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny amidst calls to reopen negotiations. The religious Orders involved initially refused to reopen compensation negotiation proceedings. Then in April 2010 an agreement was announced whereby another €348m would be paid. This followed negotiations in late 2009 with 18 church groups, though it seems that the letters of offer were accepted as such by government, without proof of any effort to increase the amounts offered. The 2010 announcement also confirmed for the first time that the entire process since 1999 had led to ".. costs of well over a billion euro being incurred by the State".

The Republic of Ireland's government is also aware of the enormous compensation awards made in the USA, where prosecution of alleged criminals is more robust. Ireland is currently (2011) undergoing a financial crisis, making it much harder to justify the costs of prosecutions and compensation.

Though still a matter for debate, the indemnity deal has complicated the question of ultimate blame. For decades the Government and Department of Education were to blame for lack of oversight, various parts of the Catholic Church refused to reform internal systems, the police generally ignored complaints, and the courts sent small children to the institutions with little concern for their rights. The 2002 deal has appeared in hindsight to be a well-intentioned but unsatisfactory attempt at a quick fix. In May 2009 CORI agreed to contribute more to the envisaged higher compensation amounts.