A 42-year-old mother of two who lost a damages action against the Department of Education over abuse she suffered at the hands of a teacher has accused the department of using the case to try to deter other child sex abuse victims from suing the State.
Louise O'Keeffe from west Cork said the Department of Education was citing her unsuccessful High Court action in March 2006 in correspondence it was sending to other litigants who had also suffered abuse at the hands of school teachers.
"There are so many other cases out there of people who have been to court and the department has circulated them with the judgment in my case in order to intimidate them into dropping their actions and that to my mind is shameful," said Ms O'Keeffe.
"People who have suffered abuse are entitled as citizens to seek justice in the courts and the Department of Education should not be trying to frighten them by using me and my case," added Ms O'Keeffe, who has appealed her action to the Supreme Court.
Ms O'Keeffe said she had not yet received a date for the appeal hearing as the department had not lodged its submissions.
She urged it to do so promptly as the delay was affecting not just her case but those of other sex abuse survivors.
Ms O'Keeffe was speaking after she obtained an instalment order at Bandon District Court against her abuser, Leo Hickey, of Innishannon, Co Cork, compelling him to pay her €400 a month in compensation for abuse in the 1960s and 1970s.
Ms O'Keeffe had been awarded damages of €305,104 against Hickey in the High Court but he did not pay any money to her and last month she initiated district court proceedings compelling him to make payment to her.
Judge James McNulty told Hickey last month that he should explore releasing equity from his home in Innishannon.
He also said he believed Hickey should be able to pay Ms O'Keeffe €400 a month from his State pension of €26,000 per annum.
Yesterday Hickey's solicitor, Plunkett Taaffe, told the court that Hickey's wife was opposed to releasing the equity in their home and he instead had agreed to pay €400 a month to Ms O'Keeffe with the first instalment having already been paid.
Ms O'Keeffe's solicitor, Ernest Cantillon, said that, given the equity release route was closed, he would register a mortgage against Hickey's interest in the property, effectively giving Ms O'Keeffe a claim on his house in the event of its sale or his death.
Hickey was sentenced to three years in jail in June 1998 on 21 sample counts from a total of 386 charges of sexually assaulting over 20 young girls between 1964 and 1973 while principal of Dunderrow National School near Kinsale.
Contacted about Ms O'Keeffe's allegations that the Department of Education was using her unsuccessful action to deter other litigants, a department spokesman said he could not comment as the matter is under appeal to the Supreme Court and sub judice.
