Michael Woods

The June 2002 deal between Fianna Fail (above) and 18 religious orders, brokered by Michael Woods while serving as Minister for Education, awarded indemnity against all legal claims if…

Total liability is currently estimated at €1.2bn

Total liability was estimated at €300m even though no detailed analysis was carried out by any government department. The Government estimated there would be 2,000 claimants. In the end, there were more than 14,000.

The indemnity deal at a glance (irish Independent, May 22, 2009)

AmIStillOnThisIsland writes:

A few points about the Indemnity deal

It was never run past the Attorney General of the day [Michael McDowell].

It was finalised outside of a dissolved Daíl and no vote ever taken on it.

It could be repealed in the morning with few grounds for legal challenge

A bill was presented to the Daíl in 2009 to repeal the deal but got nowhere.

Less than 70% of the monies owed by the Church has been paid, example the Christian Brothers have paid 4 Million of a total 42 owed.

So if Enda was serious about being a ‘Catholic but not a Catholic Taoiseach’, he would repeal the bill in the morning and open all of the religious institutions to a liability to pay for their crimes.