Ireland's Catholic bishops sought to have claims by altar boys against clergy included in the State's compensation scheme for victims of child abuse.
In a report on meetings with the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI), representing congregations which ran residential institutions where children were abused, officials were told that "independently, the bishops have been on to the Department inquiring about progress."
It continued: "It seems that CORI are not liaising with the bishops. The bishops want a wider scheme than what is proposed. It had been suggested that the scheme might be extended e.g. to cover claims by altar boys against the clergy.
"It was agreed that this was out of the question. (Very few bishops are affected by the type of abuse under discussion at the meeting, as the congregations, not the dioceses, ran the great bulk of the institutions)."
In July 2001 the Taoiseach refused to meet the bishops to discuss their unhappiness with the proposed compensation scheme. It followed a letter on May 23rd, 2001, from the chairman of the Bishops' Committee on Child Abuse, Bishop Eamonn Walsh, currently the Apostolic Administrator to Ferns diocese. He sought the meeting to discuss extending the scheme to include children abused in ordinary schools and suggested that, as proposed "it would appear that there is a significant discrepancy which raises serious issues of equity and justice".
On June 8th, 2001, Bishop Walsh and Sister Eileen Randles met officials of the Department of Education and Science on the matter. They told them that the bishops were of the view that by excluding children abused in ordinary schools the Government was setting up a scheme which was unfair and inequitable.
The officials argued that, where ordinary schools were concerned with children living at home, the State's responsibility was far less. In a July 6th, 2001, reply to Bishop Walsh, Mr Ahern's private secretary said: "The Taoiseach thinks that it is best that any discussions in relation to the Bill should take place with the Department of Education & Science in the first instance."
In February 2002 an attempt was made by Government officials to secure further money from CORI to help fund compensation it was planned to extend to children abused in hospitals for the mentally and physically handicapped; children abused in special schools for the physically and intellectually handicapped; and to women abused as children in Magdalene laundries. Such institutions were not covered in the original Bill or prior to CORI agreeing its €128 million contribution to the scheme.
An e-mail on March 12th, 2002, sent by a Department of Education and Science official suggested "arguably the congregations should either pay more to have the indemnity extended to these institutions or else the indemnity may not cover them at all".
The following day, March 13th, 2002, at a meeting between four Government officials, three representatives of CORI and three lawyers representing CORI, Sister Helena O'Donoghue dismissed the suggestion. The minutes recorded that when asked whether the congregations would increase their level of contribution to include the new schools "Sr Helena considered that the overall package agreed with the Minister stood and that the additional institutions fell within the definitions in the Bill".
