Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

The primary consideration of the Government in establishing the redress scheme was to provide justice for people who had been abused in childhood while resident in institutions which operated under the supervision of the State. The Government's decision to establish the redress scheme was made regardless of whether the religious congregations which managed the institutions would contribute to the scheme. The State had a duty to make amends for the abuse of those in its charge. Nonetheless, it was considered desirable that the religious congregations would make a meaningful contribution towards the compensation of victims of child abuse and the Government accordingly entered into negotiations with the congregations which culminated in agreement being reached in June 2002 on a total contribution by the congregations of €128 million. The agreement reached with the religious congregations represented the best possible outcome in the circumstances. The Committee of Public Accounts acknowledged that there was no capacity to coerce the congregations into any agreement and that the State was faced with a substantial contingent liability in any event.

The alternative option of rejecting the offer and pursuing the congregations through the courts would have resulted in a sizable number of protracted legal proceedings with the involvement of victims in a traumatic and adversarial process, substantial costs in legal fees and with no guarantee of a favourable outcome. There would have been substantial risks with such a course and the real possibility that the State would bear most of the cost and receive little or nothing in return.

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department does not intend to revisit or renegotiate the terms of the existing indemnity agreement or enter into any new agreement which would see the State seek further contributions from the contributing congregations. The final agreement is achieving its original purpose of providing, in a humane and compassionate manner, redress to those who have suffered abuse with an acknowledgement of what had happened by the key parties involved.

See this speech in context