The latest report on child sexual abuse is truly shocking.
Senior Counsel Mary O’Toole contacted 73 religious orders and found that 42 religious orders had combined records of almost 2,400 allegations of sexual abuse at 308 schools.
In any other organisation, this would be deemed a criminal conspiracy. Especially as the church authorities knew the abuse was happening.
But the government just announced that there would be yet another commission of inquiry. It is not good enough.
There was already a Commission for Inquiry into Child Abuse in 1999, known as the Ryan Commission. It took 10 years to report.
Another Commission of Inquiry into the Mother and Baby Homes was set up in 2015. It was stacked against survivors and took 7 years to report.
In both cases, the Catholic Church got away with a rap on the knuckles. It has only paid out €237 million in compensation to victims of child abuse.
Incredibly, the Irish state gave an indemnity to the church back in 2002 if they paid over a paltry sum. The religious orders then promised another voluntary contribution in 2015 – but they have not even kept their promises.
So the Irish picked up a tab for €1.5 billion to pay victims of child abuse – and the religious order offered only a fraction of the cost.
It is the same story with the abuse in the Mother and Baby Homes. The state says it will pay out €800 million in compensation -and even then not all victims will be compensated.
But the religious orders who caused the abuse have not paid over one cent!
It is time to end this farce. There needs to be an audit of all church assets. Indemnity deals have to be scrapped by an order of the Dáil.
Where the religious orders do not pay up fully for their crimes, we need compulsory purchase orders to put their schools and hospitals into public control.
Get them out – separate church and state.
