Why abuse compensation deal should be torn up

REALITY bites. At last, the people of Ireland realise they were conned . Quite rightly, they want to renegotiate the deal done with the religious orders.

The moral argument for renegotiation is falling on the deaf ears of the custodians of decency, but there are several strong grounds on which to challenge the legalities of that deal.

The comptroller and auditor general has both a statutory and a constitutional obligation to enquire into how the deal was negotiated and to quantify the value (or waste) of money accruing to the exchequer as a result. Accuracy to the nearest million would be quite adequate to expedite a thorough and speedy investigation.