The Government has been challenged to “flex some legal muscle” to force religious orders involved in mother and baby homes to contribute to redress for survivors of the institutions.
Social Democrats acting leader Cian O’Callaghan alleged these congregations had “operated as criminal networks” as he accused the Government of continuing to “roll over” after years of being ignored when trying to get them to pay.
“When is the State finally going to flex some legal muscle when it comes to these religious orders? Why are these orders not being raided by the gardaí? Why are assets not being seized?” he asked.
“It’s unbelievable that the approach of successive governments to these orders, which operated as criminal networks, is to roll over.”
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Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government would consider “what options we can take within the law” to pursue religious orders but “we simply can’t just go in and raid people”.
The Irish Times reported on Wednesday how just one order has made a “serious offer” of cash to pay redress to survivors following attempts by government negotiator Sheila Nunan to secure cash commitments from seven Catholic bodies and the Church of Ireland. She submitted her final report on Monday to Minister for Children Norma Foley.
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Martin said he had only “read the report of it this morning in the media”.
“We will assess the report and then consider what options we can take, within the law obviously, in terms of pursuing religious orders,” he said.
Raising the issue during Leaders’ Questions, Mr O’Callaghan said Roderic O’Gorman, who was then minister, had written to the orders in 2021, but “his begging letters were ignored” and in May 2023 he appointed Ms Nunan to negotiate with the orders.
She was given six months to get a “best and final offer” from the orders. Two years later her final report showed “just one order has made a serious offer of cash to pay redress”.
The Dublin Bay North TD said “going cap in hand to religious orders was not a successful strategy”.
“We know these orders would much prefer to pay their armies of lawyers than the women and children that they tortured and abused.” he told TDs.
He said the orders “own assets worth hundreds of millions”, and “for decades in Ireland, unimaginable horrors were perpetrated in mother and baby homes”.
The Taoiseach agreed that “religious orders will utilise lawyers in the legal world to frustrate government’s attempts”, but said the Government has introduced an €800 million redress scheme.
“If we’d been waiting around for a legal process” to get the necessary resources from religious orders “you’d never have a redress scheme”, he said.
The State “put many young people into industrial schools”, but was not directly involved in mother and baby homes. “It’s arguable this is a matter we have to take advice on in terms of the specific issues that applied to mother and baby homes,” he said.
