Dáil to debate Bacik Bill to ensure religious orders pay redress
Dáil to debate Bacik Bill to ensure religious orders pay redress - The Labour Party
- The Civil Liability (Child Sexual Abuse Proceedings Against Unincorporated Bodies of Persons) Bill 2025 will close long-standing loopholes that have allowed unincorporated bodies to avoid responsibility, even as they transferred assets into complex trust arrangements.
On Thursday 25th June, the Dáil will debate the Civil Liability (Child Sexual Abuse Proceedings Against Unincorporated Bodies of Persons) Bill 2025. The Bill, introduced by Labour Leader and TD for Dublin Bay South, Ivana Bacik, would ensure that religious institutions, associated trusts, and other unincorporated organisations may be held liable for historic child sexual abuse committed in their care.
Deputy Bacik said,
“We have a dark and shameful past of institutional abuse in Ireland. For many decades, we have seen religious orders and institutions engaged in the covering up of this tragic history. If we have learned anything as a nation, it is that accountability must be provided for survivors and victims of abuse. Abuse that was carried out in the Magdalene Laundries, the Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes, Industrial Schools, religious order-run secondary schools, and in other bodies – there are so many wrongs we must right.
“We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to all those brave survivors and victims who have shown such tremendous courage in coming forward to disclose that they were abused. These individuals have shone a vitally important light into a very dark corner of the Irish education system, exposing horrors that should never have been allowed to happen.
“However, despite the passage of time and the revelations of institutional abuse, many of the fundamental power imbalances remain. Victims are often retraumatised by flawed redress processes or dragged through lengthy legal proceedings, due to the reluctance of religious orders to fully engage in delivering justice. This Bill aims to address that imbalance by facilitating civil proceedings against unincorporated bodies, such as religious orders, and providing a mechanism for recovering damages from these bodies.
“Successive Governments have repeatedly failed to compel religious orders to pay their fair share of redress, and many continue to evade responsibility through legal and financial manoeuvring. This Bill is about ending that evasion. Survivors of abuse deserve justice. The religious institutions that enabled or ignored abuse must be held accountable for the harm they caused.
“The Bill will enable survivors to pursue civil actions directly against unincorporated orders and the trusts currently holding their assets. It follows years of calls from survivors for effective mechanisms to ensure that those responsible for abuse cannot hide behind outdated structures.
“For decades, religious orders have benefited from a system that allowed them to shift assets, restructure ownership, and protect their wealth — all while the people they harmed struggled for recognition. This shameful legacy cannot go unaddressed. With this legislation, the Oireachtas has an opportunity to take a meaningful step towards justice, dignity and truth. Clearly, we cannot simply appeal to the moral duty of religious orders to ensure victims receive the justice they deserve. The slow pace of action, the avoidance of responsibility, and the legal obfuscations seen so far indicate the need for a stronger legislative framework. The Labour Party’s Bill is essential for creating that pathway to justice. Religious orders cannot be allowed to delay and avoid accountability any longer.
“Labour is urging all parties to support the Bill and to commit to ensuring that survivors finally receive the recognition and redress they deserve.”
The full Bill is available here: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2025/79/