Gormley: Church cannot shirk moral responsibility

THE Church cannot run away from its “moral responsibility” to increase its contribution to the compensation paid to the victims of institutional abuse, said Environment Minister John Gormley.

In throwing down the gauntlet to Church leaders, the Green Party leader said it was time to “get past the legal niceties” of the deal struck with Government in 2002 which capped the contribution of the religious orders to compensation for victims at €127 million.

In words which also illustrate a growing rift between the coalition partners over how to deal with the fallout from the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Mr Gormley said: “I’m not a legal expert, I really don’t know if the deal... can be re-opened.