Labour wants schools in lieu of abuse payments

lostexpectation

http://www.independent.ie/education/latest-news/only-3pc-of-primary-schools-are-owned-by-state-1653754.html

labour will ask that schools be handed over free of charge because the Church paid just €128m towards the €1.1bn cost of compensating sex abuse victims

THE State owns less than 3pc of the country's 3,200 primary schools while Ireland has one of the highest percentages of privately owned primary schools in the world, new figures reveal.

A major political row is now set to erupt after it emerged the State legally owns just 83 primary schools across the country. The vast majority of the schools -- almost 3,000 in total -- are in the possession of the Church. The remainder are privately owned.

Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe will come under pressure in the Dail today to begin talks to arrange an "orderly handover" of the title deeds of the Catholic-owned schools to the State.

Labour education spokesman Ruairi Quinn

time for the church to settle the bill
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/time-for-church-to-settle-its-bill-1653818.html

why
In 95pc of the schools in Ireland, the trustee is the local bishop -- in other words, when our children go to school, they step out of the care of the State, and into the arms of the Church.

What is mind-boggling about this state of affairs is that it echoes the situation in Ireland before the Kilkenny Incest Case, and the development of the Childcare Act, 1991. This Act revolutionised child protection by placing the primary responsibility for the welfare of children on the State's shoulders.

Now the State has side-stepped its legal -- and moral -- obligations, and handed the wellbeing and safety of children right back to the Roman Catholic Church, a body that abused this responsibility shamefully for decades.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/a-good-start-but-church-still-has-long-way-to-go-1651858.html

Dont be at yourself

Proper order. If they can't pay the bills, seize their assets - assets which the taxpayer has paid for, anyway.

Dades

That idea is far to simple to work.

What's the catch? :pac:

Rev Hellfire

Can't see it happening.

Schuhart

It does seem too perfect. But, in principle, it seems a perfectly reasonable solution.

In the current climate, I don't like letting anyone off on their debts.

mickeydevine

Dades wrote: »

That idea is far to simple to work.

What's the catch? :pac:

100 young boys probably.:mad:

Dades

Let's not reduce this thread to that, thanks.

Stercus Accidit

That idea does seem very reasonable, it solves two problems in one go, it works well in theory, too well almost.

This is Irish politics though, involving the Church no less, I'll be surprised if it does go so smoothly.

I mean, it cant right? Am I too cynical? Will something I agree with actually be implemented by the government? Suggested by labour? Can it be?!

CDfm

One of my problems with the whole settlement thing was how public & civil servants who had a knowledge of what was going going on and did nothing were never named and shamed.

Any hand over of schools to the D of E should have this disclosure.

I am biased as a friend of mine who was an abuse victim commited suicide a few years back and never benefited from any compensation and his case had been reported to the authorities years before.The officials never explained their behaviour and inaction.