THE FIRST~: Children within the SYSTEM were objects of CHARITY - in the care of religious orders because no one else would do so. Indeed as children in those places ourselves we were constantly made aware that "nobody wanted us" and that we should be thankful for the meagre and bad food we received, that were it not for the charity of the Catholic Church in Ireland we would be left abandoned and starving out on the side of the road.
DEBUNKED~: ALL this was FALSE. The SYSTEM was entirely the responsibility of the State, established by law, funded and regulated by the Department of Education. The State paid a grant to the religious orders for EACH AND EVERY CHILD committed by the courts to be detained within the SYSTEM.
While the level of this funding was by no means overly generous, comparisons with the wage levels of the time show clearly that it should have been enough to feed and clothe the children adequately. However, the Department of Education's OWN FILES illustrate the extent of severe material deprivation suffered by the children in theses schools.
DEBUNKED~: ALL this was FALSE. The SYSTEM was entirely the responsibility of the State, established by law, funded and regulated by the Department of Education. The State paid a grant to the religious orders for EACH AND EVERY CHILD committed by the courts to be detained within the SYSTEM.
While the level of this funding was by no means overly generous, comparisons with the wage levels of the time show clearly that it should have been enough to feed and clothe the children adequately. However, the Department of Education's OWN FILES illustrate the extent of severe material deprivation suffered by the children in theses schools.
