Redress scheme for school abused is failing survivors, Council of Ministers is told

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission tells council that Ireland is taking a defensive position ‘informed by suspicion and distrust’ in relation to redress for those abused in the school system

Louise O’Keeffe, who was sexually abused by her teacher in a Co Cork primary school: won a European court case that found Ireland had failed to protect her. Picture: Collins

A state redress scheme for victims of abuse in school continues to fail survivors seven years after a judgment was secured by a Cork woman, the Council of Europe’s highest body has been told.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) wrote to the Council of Ministers, a senior body within the Council of Europe, earlier this month to say that a new redress scheme established earlier this year was restrictive, insensitive, and unfair.