Bacik introduces Bill to ensure religious institutions pay redress

• Bacik to introduce legislation to hold religious orders accountable for historic institutional abuse
• The Civil Liability (Child Sexual Abuse Proceedings Unincorporated Bodies of Persons) Bill 2023 will close long-standing loopholes that have allowed unincorporated bodies to avoid responsibility, even as they transferred assets into complex trust arrangements.

Labour Leader and TD for Dublin Bay South, Ivana Bacik, will this week introduce landmark legislation to ensure that religious institutions, associated trusts, and other unincorporated organisations 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’ve learned anything as a nation, it is that accountability must be provided for survivors and victims of abuse. The Magdalene Laundries, the Mother and Baby and County Homes, Industrial Schools, abuse in religious order-run secondary schools, and other bodies – there are 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 the ‘associated’ trusts of 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.”

ENDS

Link to the Civil Liability (Child Sexual Abuse Proceedings – Unincorporated Bodies of Persons) Bill 2023: https://labour.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/PMB-09.12.25-The-Civil-Liability-Child-Sexual-Abuse-Proceedings-Unincorporated-Bodies-of-Persons-Bill-2023.docx