Parish 'Not Paying For Abuse Claims', Archbishop

A claim has emerged that the Dublin Archdiocese is using parish funds to cover the costs of clerical sex abuse claims.

It is alleged by The Irish Catholic newspaper that parishes donate funds from their cash surpluses to help fill a deficit in an account used to pay lawyers fees and compensation for victims of clerical child sex abuse.

Responding to the claim made by the newspaper, The Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin said parishes with a surplus of funding have been asked to contribute to a general fund which he said has not as yet been used to compensate victims of clerical sex abuse.

According to the Irish Catholic, the Dublin diocese has paid €13.5m so far and it is estimated a further €6.34m will be needed to cover the bill from child sexual abuse allegations.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the account in question was used to fund diocesan needs in general, and was not dedicated to the payment of sexual-abuse claim costs. However, he did not rule out the possibility that money from the account could be used to help fund such claims in future.

Speaking at the National Ploughing Championships, Archbishop Martin said he would prefer if all the money could be used for other diocesan purposes, but did not rule out using parish money to fund future compensation pay-outs.

Last year, the Dublin Archdiocese had ruled out asking parishioners to help fund the multi-million euro costs of the claims.

The Archbishop has said that the necessary funds are in place for the coming year but he added: "How we do in the future, I don't know.

(LB/BMcC)