Survivors of sexual abuse in schools have been promised by Minister for Education Norma Foley that a commission of investigation will be set up “as quickly as possible” and that a group of senior officials would soon consider issues such as redress and commemoration.
The pledge came despite uncertainty at the highest levels of Government as to what steps should follow the publication this week of senior counsel Mary O’Toole’s report on child abuse in the education system, which detailed some 2,400 allegation of abuse across more than 300 schools.
“We can’t just jump straight into redress,” one senior figure told The Irish Times.
Following the report’s publication, Ms Foley has moved to reassure survivors that their concerns will remain “central” to the next stages of the process. The Government has decided to set up a commission of investigation, and while no decision on a redress scheme for survivors has been made, there is a general acceptance in the Coalition that one will follow.
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In a letter sent to survivors yesterday, the Minister said she has “convened a high-level group which will progress the work that is needed to establish” the commission. She also promised to move ahead quickly with the next steps.
“I am conscious that time is of the essence, and I am determined that this commission will be in place as quickly as possible,” she wrote. “There is some complexity in establishing a process such as this to ensure that it is robust, but I assure you, that process will be dealt with expeditiously. This group will also consider the other important recommendations in the report, including those relating to redress, memorialisation, and of course, child protection.”
A spokesman for the Department of Education said the group was “comprised of senior officials from relevant departments with support from the Office of the Attorney General and chaired at secretary general level”.
He said the group’s membership had not been finalised, but the department was “committed to moving quickly into the next phase with a meeting to be held in the next fortnight”.
It is understood that one of the issues to be considered by the group will be the cost of the inquiry, with sources saying the Government had on Tuesday mandated the group to provide an estimate.
Former rapporteur on child protection Prof Conor O’Mahony said the Government should consider changing the law to allow survivors of abuse in schools to sue religious orders as part of a strategy to encourage contributions from church bodies to redress schemes. A senior Government source also privately raised this possibility.
Prof O’Mahony, of the University College Cork School of Law, told The Irish Times it could be effective to temporarily adjust the statute of limitations to allow survivors – many of whom are barred from taking a case, as too long has elapsed since the alleged abuse – to pursue a case through the courts.
He said the costs of defending and settling potentially hundreds of civil actions could eclipse the cost of paying into a redress scheme, and this could “focus minds” among the religious orders.
“If the Government wanted to make the orders feel a bit uncomfortable, that would be a very interesting way to do it – [by] carving out some exemption to it which would allow people to pursue them in court if they were so minded.”
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