Out-of-court payouts a ‘disgrace’, says abuse survivor

The State’s offer of out-of- court settlements to victims of child sexual abuse at school has been described as "an absolute disgrace" by survivor Louise O’Keeffe, who was forced to resort to the European courts in her own battle for justice.

Ms O’Keeffe, who was abused in 1973, at the age of eight, by her school principal, said it was outrageous that the State was limiting its offer to cases where a prior complaint of abuse had been made and the State had failed to act.

This offer was based on what Ms O’Keeffe’s solicitor, Ernest Cantillon, described as a “minimalist” interpretation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling. That ruling, made last January, found the State had been negligent in failing to protect Ms O’Keeffe from abuse in school and that her human rights had been breached.