An investigation reveals that François Bayrou, the current Prime Minister of France, was aware of allegations of abuse at the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram institution and nonetheless facilitated substantial public funding to the establishment.

According to reports, between 1995 and 1999, public subsidies totaling at least 1 million francs (equivalent to over 230,000 euros today) were allocated to the school in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department.

Documents reviewed in the investigation indicate that these subsidies were discretionary.

During this period, Bayrou had close ties to Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram; his children were enrolled there, and his wife, Elisabeth Bayrou, served as a catechist at the institution.

In 1998, while one of the school’s administrators had been sentenced two years earlier for serious misconduct involving a student, Bayrou proposed a new grant for the institution.

This funding, amounting to nearly 300,000 francs (approximately 70,000 euros), was earmarked for renovations to the dining hall and was characterized as the largest grant awarded by the local authority among the twenty-one private colleges funded that year.

The following year, Bayrou suggested an additional subsidy of 345,119 francs (around 80,204 euros) to extend previous construction works.

At that time, the former principal of the college, Father Silviet-Carricart, was under investigation for serious sexual offenses dating back to May 1998.

The inquiry highlights that the funding for Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram appeared to require no accountability or oversight, with the last inspection of the institution by relevant authorities reportedly occurring nearly 30 years prior to these events.