IRELAND
Irish Times
Kitty Holland
The chief executive of Caranua has withdrawn “unreservedly” comments in which she described survivors of institutional abuse as “these people” who were “damaged” and some of whom would “never be happy”.
Mary Higgins faced robust questioning at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee on Thursday about survivors’ experience of Caranua and her comments about survivors in this newspaper and on radio last month.
Caranua is an independent statutory body, established under legislation in 2012, to manage €110 million pledged by religious congregations to enhance abuse survivors’ lives. Survivors can apply for grants for services under headings such as health and wellbeing, housing support, and education, learning and development.
Survivors however described last month being “re-traumatised” by their dealings with Caranua. They complained of long delays in getting a response from the organisation, being told without warning they could no longer apply for services, and being spoken to without respect.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.