6 days ago
Commission's complex work spans decades of societal change
The work that lies ahead for the Commission of Investigation into the Handling of Child Sexual Abuse in Schools is significant and complex.
Following a wish expressed by many victims/survivors involved in the Scoping Inquiry, the commission will examine the handling of sexual abuse in all types of schools, which means there will be hundreds under consideration.
Investigating of every allegation that may be reported to the commission would be difficult within the allotted five-year time frame, which is why there will be a sampling approach.
Sampling also occurred during the Murphy Inquiry, which was a commission of investigation into the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin which began in 2006.
The original brief was for Judge Yvonne Murphy to report within 18 months, but such was the volume of evidence and allegations concerning the abusive behaviour of a sample batch of 46 priests, it took three years.
It's understood that Mr Justice Michael MacGrath and his team of commissioners will determine the sampling method when they have a clearer idea of numbers.
The scoping inquiry into allegations of abuse at schools run by religious orders for example found that there were 2,395 allegations of sexual abuse in respect of 308 schools run by religious orders.
The allegations were made in respect of 884 distinct alleged abusers between 1927 to 2013.
The commission of investigation announced today will consider child sexual abuse during that same time period, however, there's "a realistic limitation" on the ability of the commission to conduct a "meaningful investigation" into incidents occurred long ago.
Regardless, it's a significant timespan across decades of huge societal changes in Ireland.
Meeting its five-year deadline will not be easy for the commission, which many agree, will require adequate resources.
There is considerable concern around the issue of redress and the fact the Government had not pinned this down before it made today's announcement.
It said further work is being done to examine the matter of financial redress and how any future scheme could be funded.
One in Four's CEO Deirdre Kenny said she was "very concerned" that there was no clarity. She described it as "a missed opportunity" for the Government.
"Redress is something that is really important. It's not necessarily about financial support for people, it's about accountability," she said
While she acknowledged the complexity of the situation, she said Government needed to move swiftly, be clear with survivors and communicate sooner rather than later.
Minister for Education Helen McEntee .
She said religious orders and institutions haven't come forward in past redress schemes and if necessary "levers of the State", would be considered to secure funding.
What is less clear - and may emerge as "further work" on the question of redress continues - is how much the State will be liable, considering that all schools will be investigated.
