Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)

I do not need to list and detail the crimes committed in the residential institutions operated chiefly by religious orders on behalf of the State. We are unanimous in our condemnation of this abuse, and I am sure in our belief that those abusers who are still alive should be punished to the full extent of the law. The others who facilitated, covered up and denied the abuse should have to acknowledge their complicity and pay reparations to the victims and survivors of that abuse. A number of organisations whose members have been responsible for some of the most horrendous examples of abuse have deliberately and cynically put their assets beyond the reach of victims by transferring them from one body to another. This is particularly but not exclusively the case for religious orders, which in some cases have transferred a significant amount of their wealth from into the possession of trusts administered by lay organisations. This allows the orders to claim poverty and avoid paying redress, should they become liable to do so. I became familiar with this kind of behaviour during the financial crash, when it was quite common to hear of developers going bust after first protecting their assets by transferring them to their wives. We cannot allow religious orders and others to use this developers' wives-type scam to evade restitution. A recent “RTÉ Investigates” programme showed that the Christian Brothers alone held, sold or transferred 800 properties from their ownership over the past 35 years. What has happened to these properties? Who holds ownership of them now? Most importantly, what has this done to help those who were abused by members of the order?

My Labour Party colleague Deputy Bacik published the civil liability (child sexual abuse proceedings against unincorporated bodies of persons) Bill in 2024. This Bill addresses the issue and would enable the State to compel religious organisations and others to pay redress to those who survived horrendous abuse in residential settings. It would also address the imbalance of power that currently exists by facilitating civil proceedings against unincorporated bodies such as religious orders and provide a mechanism for recovering assets from associated lay-run trusts to which assets have frequently been transferred. By supporting Deputy Bacik's Bill, the Government could show that it is serious about addressing historical abuse in residential settings and compel guilty organisations to take responsibility for their crimes.