SEANAD REPORT: It was the view of the Government that the deal involving a contribution of €128 million by the religious orders towards the redress scheme for victims of abuse in institutional care was the best that could be achieved in the circumstances, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Mr Noel Treacy, told the House.
Concluding the debate on the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Mr Treacy said the indemnity agreement with the orders was not costing the State money. The Redress Scheme was what would cost money. He would refer people to the situation in France, where the state had taken on the church on these issues and had lost.
The Redress Board was working well and it was worth noting that claimants could appeal awards to an Independent Appeals Board.
Mr Labhras Ó Murchu (FF) said the reported statement by a well-known public person, that if necessary the religious orders should be bankrupted, amounted in his view to incitement to hatred. He hoped that there would be some clarification of this statement.
While agreeing that the statement was "outrageous", Mr John Paul Phelan (FG) said the religious orders needed to make a more realistic contribution to the cost of compensating the abuse victims.
Mr Brendan Ryan (Lab) said he had no patience with the argument that the State's share of this burden reflected the position of what had happened in institutions.