Schools abuse: Sorrow of religious orders just ‘hollow words’ if redress funding doesn’t follow, says Harris

Statements expressing sorrow from religious orders who ran schools implicated in past child sexual abuse will be “hollow words” if they are not followed by commitments towards redress for survivors, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said.
Compensation and redress for those abused in religious-run schools could not be “parked” until after a full statutory inquiry into the abuse was completed, Mr Harris said.
An initial scoping report by Mary O’Toole SC, published this week, found a systemic culture of abuse in religious run day and boarding schools, uncovering thousands of cases where children were allegedly sexually abused by those in positions of power.
In response to the scoping report the Government has committed to establish a full Commission of Investigation into past abuse in schools.
Speaking during a visit to Kyiv, Mr Harris said religious orders who ran the schools now had to “step up” when it came to redress.
“I welcome statements of regret and sorrow, and I don’t doubt the bone fides of any order, it is better to have those statements. They will be hollow words if they are just statements saying we’re sorry,” he said.
The record of religious orders contributing to State compensation schemes in the past had been “underwhelming” to put it politely, Mr Harris said.
Resolving the question of how to offer redress to victims of abuse could not wait until the end of the coming Commission of Investigation process, he said.
“We’ve got to be honest from the start, if we don’t get this right in terms of how we structure it, then we have something that runs for years and years and years without answers, and I know that’s the last thing the survivors want,” he said.
“I think it is appropriate that we provide Minister [Norma] Foley with the time and space to engage with survivors to get this right,” he said.
Survivors had been expressing their desire for a process that found “truth and justice”, in a more efficient manner than previous statutory inquiries, he said. “People can’t wait five, six, seven years, longer,” he said.
An Garda Síochána on Wednesday night appealed to anyone who believes they were the victim of a criminal act relating to historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools, or with information about same, to come forward. It can be contacted by email at [email protected]; by telephone on 1800 555 222 or by calling to a garda station.
“An Garda Síochána is fully aware of the profound impact on the lives of those who were subject to such abuse, many of whom who may only be disclosing this information for the first time,” the force said in a statement. “An Garda Síochána will deal with any matters reported by complainants in a sensitive manner and will, where possible, progress matters through investigation. 
“While it is our responsibility to effectively deal with all complaints and information received, there be limitations as to the action we can take in some cases due to matters such as the unavailability of evidence over time or suspects and/or witnesses being deceased. Where these factors are present, An Garda Síochána will diligently explain such limitations to complainants.”
Earlier, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said some behaviour of religious orders had been “shameful” on the issue of abuse in schools.
“Some of the ways they’ve been quite defensive on this has been shameful,” he said, “and the fact that so many victims have waited for so long, have had to use the process that we’ve had up to this point to have their stories heard and haven’t had any accountability has been shameful”.
He called for “absolute accountability” regarding the religious orders and their involvement over many years. Asked if they should be compelled to be involved in an inquiry or participate in a redress scheme, he said that was a matter for further Government discussion, adding: “No religious order should be left behind as part of this, they need to be centrally involved when it comes to accountability and part of a scheme.”
The scoping inquiry found a “particularly high number of allegations” involving children in special schools.
The report detailed a systemic culture of abuse in religious-run day and boarding schools throughout the country, with 2,395 allegations of abuse reported against 884 people.
Of these, some 528 allegations and 190 alleged abusers relate to special schools.
A total of 17 special schools are named in the report. Two schools run by the Brothers of Charity account more than half of all the allegations: Lota in Glanmire, Co Cork with 166 allegations and the Holy Family School in Renmore, Co Galway with 119 allegations of abuse involving 49 abusers.
Lota, a boarding school catering for children with learning disabilities, operated from 1939 to 1999 and has been the subject of six separate garda investigations.
The Holy Family School in Renmore catered for children as young as eight with intellectual disabilities. In 2007 a report was published into instances of sexual abuse there which occurred there between 1965 and 1998 and at an adjacent facility – the Kilcornan centre for young adults with disabilities in Clarinbridge.
In 2000, Brother Ambrose, known as James Kelly, was jailed for 36 years for abuse carried out in both Lota and Renmore.
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The report states that the “vast majority” of alleged abusers identified in special schools are still living or their status is not known. This is in contrast to other religious-run schools where the perpetrators are dead.