Politics

Statutory inquiry into sexual abuse of children at day and boarding schools agreed at Cabinet

Work on preparations for the inquiry by officials, including legislation to be brought before the Oireachtas, will begin shortly

report was commissioned last year from senior counsel Mary O’Toole following allegations of historic abuse at Blackrock College. File photograph: Brian Lawless/PA
Pat Leahy
Tue Sept 03 2024 - 13:58

The Government has formally agreed to establish a statutory inquiry into the sexual abuse of children at day and boarding schools.

Work on preparations for the inquiry by officials, including legislation to be brought before the Oireachtas, will begin shortly and there is also expected to be extensive consultations with survivors of abuse.

The proposals were brought to the Government on Tuesday morning by Minister for Education Norma Foley following agreement among the three Coalition party leaders on Monday night.

It is understood that the Government intends to set up a Commission of Investigation, in line with the report’s recommendations. Discussions on the terms of reference will take place over the coming weeks, it is expected, but the recommendation from the scoping report is that all types of school should be included, rather than just those run by religious orders.

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A scoping report into the allegations of abuse at schools run by religious orders – prompted by accounts of abuse at Blackrock College in Dublin, which in turn prompted an outpouring of similar stories – is expected to be published by the Government, perhaps as early as this evening.

Ms Foley and her officials have been considering the 700-page report, commissioned last year from senior counsel Mary O’Toole following allegations of historic abuse at Blackrock College.

The scoping inquiry conducted by Ms O’Toole included religious-run boarding and day schools, and it is understood that the report features schools run by many different religious orders.

Sources say that there may be thousands of cases of sexual abuse in the schools.

Officials are continuing to work on proposals for a redress scheme for victims of past abuse with at least part of the costs being met by the religious orders. Ms Foley and her officials have been drawing up plans which are expected to be heavily influenced by the wishes of survivors.

The terms of reference for the scoping exercise specifically required that Ms O’Toole, when making recommendations to the Government, should have regard to “alignment with outcomes sought by survivors of historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders”. It says this should be “informed by the survivor engagement process” which has been part of the scoping inquiry’s work.

An advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse in Spiritan schools said the establishment of a redress scheme only after the conclusion of any inquiry would result in “further delays to urgently needed justice”.

A statement released by the Restore Together group said any statutory inquiry “must be structured to reflect the urgency of the situation” and by “putting the best interests of victims/survivors first”.

The group said this could be done by “the concurrent operation of parallel strands of any inquiry aimed at providing healing, redress and justice”.

Survivors received communication from the Government’s Survivor Engagement Lead Kieran McGrath on Tuesday morning informing them a copy of the report would be made available to them before it was published.

“We recognise that receiving the Report is significant and that there is likely to be media coverage and discussion of the contents in the coming days. We understand that this may be difficult for you,” Mr McGrath said in an email on Tuesday.

He also said that up to six sessions with a qualified counsellor would be made available to any survivor who requested it, with longer term support available from One in Four and other organisations.

Pat Leahy

Pat Leahy

Pat Leahy is Political Editor of The Irish Times