Scouting Ireland’s future ‘threatened’ by costs of historic abuse cases in legacy groups

The future of Scouting Ireland (SI) was threatened by the costs of historic abuse cases in former scouting organisations, according to Government officials. Internal records show the group faced having to sell off properties, increase fees and take on debts to meet its costs. Briefing notes drawn up for Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton earlier this year also show the State believes cases taken against it for historic abuse in scout groups are unlikely to succeed, although its legal advice is not definitive on this.Scouting Ireland is facing dozens of civil cases from alleged victims and survivors of past abuse in its former legacy bodies – the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland and the Scout Association of Ireland, which merged to form Scouting Ireland in 2004. READ MOREA 2020 report found there was a cover-up of abuse in these organisations that was tolerated at the highest levels.While the immediate future of the organisation is not threatened – helped by a €2 million settlement with its insurer, according to the briefing – Naughton’s officials warned that “very significant costs” associated with settling cases “may threaten [SI’s] ability to continue operating as a going concern”. Officials were sufficiently concerned about the situation that the department funded an expert report to examine the risk that payouts arising from court proceedings could exceed the organisation’s resources. Naughton was also told officials had begun contingency planning to ensure scouting activity could continue if the organisation was wound up.When it was completed, it found that the organisation should be able to address its oncoming financial needs and remain solvent into next year, but that it should implement various recommendations. These included “the sale of a significant scouting property, increasing membership fees and securing a loan from a commercial lender to cover its anticipated liabilities in the coming years due to historic abuse legal cases”.Naughton was told that, as of July 2025, SI had settled 10 of 72 civil cases instigated, at an average cost, including legal fees, of about €250,000. In response to questions last week, SI said it had grown its membership last year by 7 per cent and opened 20 new scout groups recently. It said it was “confident in our future” and had developed “a new strategy to 2029”.Its latest accounts note a “material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. The organisation said this assumes “that the company has sufficient funds to continue operations to the end of 2027 and thereafter the company will need to raise further funds to discharge the provisions for liabilities”. “In that context, the company continues to engage with members and third parties on ... cash-build activities. We are fully committed to meeting our obligations in full to survivors and to continuing to deliver for young people,” said a spokeswoman. The documents also show the department sought internal legal advice on whether, if SI was unable to discharge settlements in the future, the State could be sued as it funded the group and its forerunner organisations. It was told that anyone seeking to sue the State for vicarious liability would find it “difficult … to establish, in the Irish courts, that there was an adequately ‘close connection’ between the State and a Scouting Ireland actor/perpetrator.” However, it warned that this advice was not definitive as individual circumstances would vary. A department spokeswoman said SI is an independent body governed by its own board of directors and is responsible for its own operations and finances. She said it receives a portion of its income through department grants and funding schemes. “The department will continue to support Scouting Ireland, as appropriate, to facilitate it in delivering its core national functions and its youth programmes. The Government takes the matter of historical child sexual abuse extremely seriously.”