Ferns paid out €8m to victims of child abuse

CHILD abuse claims have cost the Diocese of Ferns more than €8 million, the bishop of the diocese, Dr Denis Brennan, has confirmed.

Bishop Brennan said the diocese, where 100 cases of child sex abuse involving 21 priests, including the late Fr Sean Fortune, a serial rapist, took place, has agreed 46 settlements totalling €8,120,775.

That is an average of €175,521 per case, with the payments funded from the diocese’s own resources, insurance and the Stewardship Trust, a Church trust fund to cover claims of clerical sex abuse.