Catholics face €26m bill for clerical child sex abuse

CLERICAL child sex abuse will cost Ireland’s four million Catholics €26 million over the next five years.

Based on financial details released by eight of the 26 dioceses, the payout amounts to €6.25 for every Catholic in Ireland.

In 2003 the bishops decided to levy every diocese an amount payable to a central fund according to its Catholic population.

The central fund, known as the Stewardship Trust with the four archbishops as trustees was established in 1996 with an initial €4.3m settlement from the Church & General insurance company.

Following further negotiations with the bishops, the company agreed to pay a further €6.3m in 1999 in a full and final settlement.

The bishops' decision to make each diocese compensate for clerical abuse was not publicly disclosed until last month although it had been in place since November 2003.

At their spring meeting in Maynooth last week, the bishops announced a review of the central fund, declaring its coffers were "almost depleted".

They also decided each diocese would undertake a process of consultation to find ways to raise this money over the next four years.

The Northern diocese of Dromore admitted last month it continued to raise money for the trust through collections taken at Masses. The same practice was stopped in Derry last month following protests.

In a statement in late February, Bishop John McAreavey said the Dromore contribution to the Stewardship Fund was £56,000 (€80,540).

Seven other dioceses publicly disclosed they had contributed to the trust Armagh, Dublin, Galway, Cork and Ross, Limerick, Clogher and Down and Connor.