Church leaders want orders to pay more

THE Church showed the first signs of bowing to public pressure when senior figures said the religious orders should pay more to compensate abuse victims.

It came just days after the orders indicated there were no plans to renegotiate the controversial 2002 deal with the Government which capped their contribution to the state compensation scheme at €128 million.

But speaking yesterday, Fr Tim Bartlett – senior aide to Catholic Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady – said the orders should pay more to the redress scheme, the final bill for which is likely to top €1.3 billion. “In my personal view, they need to pay more,” Fr Bartlett said.