Irish government delays compensation for abuse victims
July 06, 2011
Although Catholic religious orders in Ireland have contributed more than €20 million ($28 million) to a fund to compensate victims of abuse in Church-run institutions, the government has not yet set up a system for distributing those funds to the victims themselves, the Irish Catholic notes.
Because of severe setbacks in Ireland’s financial markets, the value of the compensation fund has diminished badly during the 2-year period that the government has delayed the process of distributing compensation to abuse victims. Meanwhile some of those victims face their own urgent financial needs, and some elderly victims may never receive compensation.
The long delay by the government has roused suspicions that the government may manipulate the issue of compensating victims to gain an advantage over the Church in a long-running debate over the future of Catholic schools. Education minister Ruairi Quinn has argued that the Church should yield control of the schools.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
