A proposal for a law that would allow religious organisations to be held liable for abuse by their members will not be considered by the Government until 2027 at the earliest.
Many religious organisations are unincorporated bodies. This means they as entities cannot be sued and their assets may be beyond the reach of the courts if and when one of their members are found liable for damages against child sex abuse survivors.
Individual members of such religious bodies can face legal action, but case law shows it can be difficult to legally pursue the organisation itself for redress.
There are concerns about how the State will recoup redress funds from religious bodies for a scheme being considered for survivors of sexual abuse in schools.
READ MORE
If set up, it would likely be the largest and most expensive redress scheme in the history of the State.
Since 2022, the Law Reform Commission (LRC) has been considering whether the Government should legislate to give unincorporated associations, such as voluntary religious orders, their own legal personality or set out another way by which they may be held liable.
Minister for Education Helen McEntee has said: “The Government will review any recommendations made by the commission in its final report, with a view to introducing any necessary legislative or administrative changes in due course.”
However, a spokesman for the LRC said its report on changing the legal status of bodies such as religious organisations will not be ready before the end of next year.
“The report about the liability of unincorporated associations is being scoped at present. We do not yet have a completion date but we do not expect it to be published before the end of 2026,” the spokesman said.
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik has expressed concern about whether a delay in progressing such a law would stymie the ability of the Government to access religious organisations’ assets, or the lay-run trusts that their assets may have been transferred to.
Ms Bacik said her party is trying to bring forward a Bill that would allow civil proceedings to be taken against unincorporated bodies like religious orders. It would allow any damages awarded in such cases to be recovered from a religious organisation or from “associated” trusts.
The same law, if passed, would also add a one-year extension to the normal limitation period provided for in the statutes of limitations.
The Labour Party leader said this was to allow any proceedings that the Bill would cover to be brought within 12 months of it being enacted. She recently personally handed a copy of the Bill to the Attorney General.
Given the upcoming Commission of Investigation into historic abuse in schools, the Government cannot afford to “sit back and wait” for the LRC report to finish, she said.
