Abuse deal and cutbacks a double blow

THE blatant shortcomings of the Coalition’s kid-glove deal with the Church on compensation for victims of clerical abuse take on sharp focus against the backdrop of harsh cutbacks hitting elderly, disabled and jobless people across the country.

As the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee yesterday began investigating the Government’s mishandling of the Church-State deal, elderly people were deprived of home help services because of a 50% subsidy cut to achieve paltry savings of a few euro.

The Coalition is also slashing spending on suicide research and prevention programmes. Given Ireland’s high incidence of suicide, it is reprehensible that these life-saving grants should be cut.

In another crushing blow, the Government is imposing cutbacks in education by re-allocating special needs assistants in schools. Effectively, Education Minister Noel Dempsey is dashing the hopes of most of the 4,700 children who have applied for this vital service in the new school year. This misguided initiative has been condemned by disability groups, and rightly so.

Swingeing cutbacks are also closing community services, hitting training programmes, axing jobs for people with special needs and ending dozens of schemes providing crucial employment in deprived areas.

Yet, with millions at stake, the State tied one hand behind its back in negotiations with the Church over the amount it should pay in compensation for the sexual and physical abuse of thousands of children.

The question people are asking is why Government ministers and officials went into key meetings without any legal backup from the Attorney General’s office. At crucial sessions, they were out-witted, out-manoeuvred and out-gunned by representatives of 18 religious orders backed by solicitors and senior counsel. It defies credibility that no written records of these meetings were kept by the State and that an account had later to be cobbled together.

The Taoiseach’s memory is also in question. Despite Bertie Ahern’s claim that the issue was debated in the Dáil, the secretary general of the Department of Education, John Dennehy, who was involved in negotiating the deal, admitted to the committee yesterday that he was not aware of any debate taking place in the Dáil on the terms of the deal.

In the heel of the hunt, the Church secured a contract capping its liability at 127 million and indemnifying the orders against possible court actions by victims. Despite seeing a steady rise in the number of claimants and, consequently, in the potential bill, the State pressed ahead with a deal that could ultimately cost taxpayers over 1billion.

As we know now, then Attorney General Justice Minister Michael McDowell, was frozen out of vital meetings by then Education Minister Michael Woods who, nevertheless, insists the deal was vetted legally.

Typically, Tánaiste Mary Harney is singing from the same hymn sheet as the Taoiseach in backing it.

Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy is also backing the agreement even though his department queried the package.

There is, however, some merit in his argument that the Government must assume responsibility for State institutions where children were abused while officials turned a blind eye.

But, in no way does that minimise the culpability of the Church in this scandalous affair.

Nor does it mitigate the incompetence of the Government in failing to make the Church properly accountable for the crimes of brothers and nuns who shamefully abused children entrusted to their care.