Liam Herrick

Leo Hickey, a former teacher at the Co Cork school, was charged in 1998 with 386 counts of sexual abuse involving 21 pupils. He pleaded guilty to 21 sample charges and was sentenced to three years in jail.

The Commission is now seeking redress for the these women, many of whom gave statements to the gardaí, in respect of the sexual abuse they suffered.

Louise O’Keeffe attended Dunderrow National School and made legal history in 2014 when she successfully took a case against Ireland in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) over the State’s failures to protect her from child abuse and to provide her with an effective remedy when she sought redress.

The Irish government implemented the ECtHR judgment, in respect of the provision of an effective remedy for survivors, by establishing ex gratia schemes for redress payments, administered by the State Claims Agency.

Two ex gratia redress schemes have been opened and both are now closed.

However, the Commission argues that both schemes were “fundamentally flawed” because they made “arbitrary and irrational distinctions between survivors of child sexual abuse in schools” and also “included conditions for access to redress that did not reflect the ECtHR’s judgment”.

“The result is that an effective remedy has so far been denied to many abuse survivors, who are legally entitled to redress from the State,” the Commission has said.

As of the start of 2024, some 128 survivors had received redress payments under the two ex gratia schemes.

However, at least 40 other survivors excluded from the schemes were paid a similar sum of €84,000 after taking High Court actions which were eventually settled.

The Commission has written to the minister of education to set out its view that survivors of historical sexual abuse in schools, including Dunderrow National School, are entitled to redress in accordance with the judgment of the ECtHR in O’Keeffe v Ireland and on the same basis as provided to Louise O’Keeffe — without further litigation.

It has also submitted applications for redress to the minister on behalf of other survivors of sexual abuse in national and post primary schools before 1991/1992.

Chief commissioner Liam Herrick said: “When Louise O’Keeffe won her case 10 years ago, the State had an opportunity, indeed a legal obligation, to right a grave wrong in accepting responsibility for its failure protect children from the sexual abuse that they suffered, and to provide them with an effective remedy for that failure.

“The current ‘parallel’ or ‘shadow’ system for accessing redress forces victims of historical child sexual abuse in Irish schools, including those who suffered that abuse in the school attended by Louise O’Keeffe, into unnecessary litigation. This risks further re-traumatising them, simply to obtain the redress to which they are entitled.

“We call on the minister to ensure these women receive the redress that they are entitled to, without further delay.”