The government must adhere to the primacy of the O’Keefe judgement and establish a fair redress scheme for the survivors of historical abuse in schools, according to Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins.
Deputy Cummins said:
“I fully recognise how important redress is for survivors as a measure of accountability for what they experienced as children and the lifelong impact it has had for so many.
“On Tuesday in the Dáil, I emphasised that it is vital that the work of the commission proceeds without undue delay – it is concerning, however, that the redress scheme will rely on “parallel” work, when really it should have been comprehensively detailed in the commission’s terms of reference.
“In 2014, the ECHR found that the Irish State was responsible for failing to protect Louise O’Keeffe from sexual abuse at school in the 1970s.
“Now, it seems that the government is choosing to ignore this precedent in an interdepartmental report which claims it has no liability for abuses committed by school staff.
“The recent announcement that the government will set up a commission of investigation into the handling of sexual abuse in schools represented progress and hope for survivors, yet now it appears the government will shirk its responsibility to pay redress.
“Without a corresponding redress scheme, the commission of investigation will be purely symbolic.
“If the state believes that this liability should be shouldered by third parties, such as school patrons, it must compel those parties to pay its share in redress – but survivors cannot wait any longer.
“The State should pay out a fair scheme now and recoup what’s spent from responsible third parties.
“The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has confirmed that the State told the ECHR as recently as January 2024 that it was working towards abiding “by the final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights” – it’s clear now that this commitment has weakened.
“Religious orders have been disgracefully slow to contribute to the Magdalene laundries and Mother and Baby Homes redress schemes – survivors of historical abuse in schools cannot depend on redress from these organisations.
“We know from experience that religious orders and other charities will use every loophole and ambiguity in regulation to avoid disclosure – the government cannot make mistakes made in previous inquiries as part of this commission.
“These legal loopholes which allow for redress not to be paid must be closed.
“The State must compel the responsible third parties to pay their share, but, until then, must establish a fair redress scheme adjacent to the commission of investigation to oblige survivors in accordance with the O’Keeffe judgement.”
July 18th, 2025