Child abuse report - Row mustn’t undermine priorities

DETAILS revealed today about the secretive 2002 deal agreed by the then Minister for Education and Science Dr Michael Woods with Catholic religious orders implicated in child abuse suggest that it is even more inequitable than was first imagined.

The deal fell far short of the Government’s minimum requirement and was bolstered by including property transferred prior to 2002.

Documentation secured under the Freedom of Information Act confirms that the deal, agreed in the dying hours of Bertie Ahern’s administration, included a dramatic climb-down, and was barely any improvement on proposals rejected as totally inadequate by the then Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy.