Abuse victims' group rejects Commission proposals

A group which represents hundreds of victims at the Commission into Child Abuse said tonight it would be instructing its members to "reject outright" a number of recommended changes to the inquiry.

Speaking outside Government Buildings - where the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey was unveiling a number of sweeping changes recommended by the new chairman of the Commission, Judge Sean Ryan -  Mr John Kelly of the Survivors of Child Abuse Organisation (SOCA) said the proposed changes were unacceptable.

"Judge Ryan has bowed down to Government pressures," he claimed.

Last year, Mr Dempsey angered victim support groups by suggesting the inquiry be speeded up by merely investigating a number of sample cases and using them as a watermark for awarding compensation. The groups rejected this idea.

Among the proposals contained in Judge Ryan's review were that all of the 1,712 cases being investigated be assessed individually and the Commission should then decide whether or not to hear them on the basis of its chances of reaching a conclusion.

"This is sampling by another name," Mr Kelly insisted. "It's warped justice."

"The reason this review was held was because of the costs and the time," Mr Kelly continued. "And why was it taking so long and costing so much? Because of all the legal challenges being taken by the religious communities, not because of the number of cases."

He estimated the Commission "would be lucky" to get 250 of the 1,712 complainants to agree to the proposed new terms of inquiry.

"All we wanted was to be able to face our abusers and to be heard," he said, adding that SOCA was prepared to take their concerns with the way the Government has handled the child abuse scandal to the European Court of Human Rights.