Taxpayer carries the can for religious orders

SOME Catholic church and political leaders now want the religious orders to reopen the deal made between them and the Government in 2002 on compensation for abused children.

This deal was done without the Government knowing exactly how many children had been abused and the church ended up paying out 5% of what has been paid to date, even though its members committed 95% of the crimes.

The then education minister, Michael Woods, defended the deal he struck with the religious orders (he would, wouldn’t he?). He says “the state did not want to prolong court proceedings involving the victims and was not prepared to bring the victims into court”.

I wonder was it the church he didn’t want to bring there?

Court was not the worst place in which these victims could have ended up as they had spent most of their childhoods in a living hell anyway. The Government took the easy way out again and the taxpayer will carry the can.

Jack O’Loughlin

Kilcoran Park

Youghal

Co Cork