Residential abuse bill to rise after age ruling

THE compensation bill for victims of residential abuse will be significantly increased following a High Court ruling.

The High Court ruled that anyone who was abused in residential institutions up to the age of 21 will be entitled to seek redress. Up to now the cut-off point was 18.

Patrick Walsh, the British spokesman for the Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA), said it was obvious to anybody with a sense of justice that the 18 religious organisations would have to revisit the €128 million indemnity agreement that it made with the state in 2002.