Religious orders must be compelled by the government to financially contribute to the \u20ac800 million redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on children and equality, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is astonishing to learn today that not one cent has been handed over by the religious orders complicit in the inhumane treatment and systematic abuse of innocent women and children in these institutions over the course of many decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitial government negotiations with religious orders began back in 2021 but came to nothing, leading to the appointment of expert negotiator Sheila Nunan in May 2023 \u2013 who was tasked with securing a best and final offer within six-months.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, almost two years later, her final report to Equality Minister Norma Foley reveals that only one out of seven Catholic Church bodies made a serious cash offer towards the redress scheme for survivors, while the Church of Ireland has flatly refused to contribute.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a further slap in the face for the tens of thousands of women and children who were incarcerated in mother and baby homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of the suffering they endured, in recent years they have had to contend with a seriously flawed Commission of Investigation report and an inadequate redress scheme that excluded 24,000 survivors, including those who spent less than six months in a mother and baby home as a child.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, the State\u2019s softly-softly approach has not worked and, as always, the religious orders will need to be dragged kicking and screaming to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven their past form with previous redress schemes, we know that these orders would much prefer to pay their armies of lawyers than the women and children they tortured and abused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had report after report documenting the crimes of the Church \u2013 not just in mother and baby homes, but in religious-run schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen is the State finally going to flex some legal muscle when it comes to these religious orders?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are these orders not being raided by garda\u00ed and why are their assets not being seized?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Taoiseach gave a disappointing response when questioned on this issue in the D\u00e1il today by my party colleague Cian O\u2019Callaghan. His commitment to merely review Sheila Nunan\u2019s report does not inspire confidence that the government has any intention of getting tough on religious orders.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of being held accountable for its abuse of women and children, the Church has been running rings around successive governments for years. What will it take for the State to finally act and go after these orders with more than a begging bowl?\u201d<\/p>\n
April 2, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Religious orders must be compelled by the government to financially contribute to the \u20ac800 million redress scheme for survivors of mother and baby homes, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on children and equality, said: \u201cIt is astonishing to learn today that not one cent has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,540,556,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-children","category-mother-and-baby-homes","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n