A woman who claims she was “repeatedly and appallingly” sexually abused by her national school principal as a child wants the High Court to compel the State to establish a new or amended compensatory scheme for victims of such abuse. He said various declarations are being sought in this case over the parameters of a new/amended scheme because of his “strong fear”, without those, the scheme will not provide compensation for mental distress/anguish/lack of funds due to delay in establishing an adequate compensatory scheme. Because she had not made a prior complaint against her alleged abuser, she did not apply under the 2015 scheme, counsel said. In July 2019, Judge O’Neill found the prior complaint criterion was unlawful and formed no part of the ECHR judgment in the O’Keeffe case. The State later said payments would be made to those applicants who had been denied a payment due to the prior complaint requirement.

Source: The Irish Times October 05, 2020 13:52 UTC