Latest on implementation of Louise O'Keeffe decision: the ex gratia scheme remains closed and under review 18 months after the decision of the Independent Assessor and 7 years after the O'Keeffe judgment. Latest Govt Action Plan published today (Thread) https://www.education.ie/en/Learners/Information/Former-Residents-of-Industrial-Schools/ECHR-OKeeffe-v-Ireland/action-plan-o%E2%80%99keeffe-v-ireland-dec-2020.pdf

The Action Plan continues the stalling tactics of recent years, and appears to continue to refuse to accept that the State is actually liable for historical sexual abuse in National Schools. Here's the key passage:

This is utterly unconvincing. There is no question of strict liability (which by definition means liability without a finding of fault). The salient fact is that fault was established in the O'Keeffe judgment, and the fault was system-wide (ie absence of any protective mechanism)

The idea that more time is needed to consider the Grand Chamber judgment in O'Keeffe is risible; the judgment was given in January 2014, and its implications were unpicked line-by-line in the course of the Independent Assessor's work.

Finally, although the Govt has repeatedly stated that it accepted the finding of the Independent Assessor that the "prior complaint" was incompatible with O'Keeffe, this Action Plan now only says that this is "being taken into account". This is not the same.

Repeated commitments have been made to abuse survivors, whose trauma has been greatly exacerbated by the conduct of the State on the issue of redress. Will @MichealMartinTD and @NormaFoleyTD1 finally honour Ireland's international human rights law obligations, and their own word?