State accused of limiting payouts to child abuse victims

The Government are deliberately trying to limit compensation to those who were abused as children in primary schools, the Dáil has heard.

Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin has accused the Government of applying a “bogus interpretation and application” of the Louise O’Keeffe judgement to other victims of abuse in a bid to avoid payouts.

In 2014, Ms O’Keeffe won a landmark case when the European Court of Human Rights ruled the Irish State had been negligent in failing to protect her from abuse in primary school. This left the State liable to pay compensation to Ms O’Keeffe, and looked like it set a precedent for other victims.