The Irish Times – Friday, September 9, 2011
CARL O’BRIEN and PATSY McGARRY
RELIGIOUS ORDERS are set to receive State payments of up to €35 million to meet their outstanding legal costs relating to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.
The commission investigated the abuse of children in reformatories and industrial schools run by religious congregations, culminating in the publication of the Ryan report in 2009.
The State has already paid out some €22 million on third-party legal costs, the bulk of which relates to religious orders.
However, internal briefing material states that between €30 and €35 million more will be needed to pay their full costs, bringing the overall bill to about €50 million.
It states this is still a “tentative provision” as the commission continues to receive and assess third-party legal costs from members of religious orders.
The Government undertook to pay the legal costs of all third parties when it established the commission over a decade ago.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education declined to say how much individual orders are due to receive given that negotiations over outstanding costs are ongoing.
However, informed sources estimate that €20 million is due to firms which represented the Christian Brothers.
The Brothers were the largest provider of residential care for boys in the State over the period investigated by the commission.
Artane industrial school in Dublin and Letterfrack industrial school in Galway, both among the largest such institutions in the State, were under their management.
Up to €15 million is believed to be due to legal firms which represented the Sisters of Mercy at the commission. They ran 26 industrial schools during the period investigated.
About €5 million is likely to be due to firms which represented the Sisters of Charity, who ran five industrial schools, including St Joseph’s and St Patrick’s in Kilkenny and a group home, Madonna House, in Dublin.
For the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who ran the Daingean reformatory in Co Offaly, the legal bill is also estimated at about €5 million.
The combined legal bill for the Rosminians – who ran Upton reformatory in Cork and Ferryhouse industrial school near Clonmel, Co Tipperary – and the Good Shepherd Sisters is expected to be at least €5 million. Costs for the remaining orders are expected to be less.
The commission had no role in compensating abuse victims. That was undertaken by the Residential Institutions Redress Board which will have paid out some €1.1 billion when its work ends, according to latest estimates.
So far the board has paid more than €160 million in legal fees to just over 900 solicitors’ firms. For victims of abuse, the redress board has made payments averaging almost €63,000 to just over 13,000 applicants to date. The average legal fees paid for each applicant to date are about €11,500.
The Ryan Report States Quite Clearly they are Guilty! Why do they pay compensation to the Guilty?
just shows how the church still runs the judiciary and the abuse and rape of children is a money making racket.