Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin Says It Is 'Difficult' for Bishops to Pass on Information

RTE News
April 25, 2012

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0425/difficult-for-bishops-to-pass-on-information.html

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin made the comments on RTÉ Radio

Draft legislation on abuse reporting is published

[with audio]

[Murphy Report: Fr. Benito - BishopAccountability.org]

A separate Bill puts a statutory responsibility on organisations - including churches and named professionals - to report abuse or significant neglect to the HSE.

The proposals were published this morning by the Justice Minister Alan Shatter and the Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

Launching the initiatives, Alan Shatter told journalists that his Bill is primarily designed to close a loophole in a 1998 law by obliging anyone who knows about any serious offence - including sexual offences against children and vulnerable adults - to inform gardaí.

He said exceptions would be made where the alleged victim does not want gardai to be told and where people such as parents, guardians or medical professionals are acting in the interests of the health and well-being of the child or vulnerable person.

The measure is a response to July's Cloyne Report which found that abuse was not being reported by the Catholic diocese to the state up until four years ago .

It also implements the earlier Ryan Report's recommendation that children should be given better legal protection.

Frances Fitzgerald said the separate Children First Bill would put a statutory responsibility on organisations and named professionals to report abuse or significant neglect to the HSE.

She said pastoral organisations, including Churches, are among those covered.

'Difficult' for bishops to pass on information

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said that it has become more difficult for bishops to share sensitive information about sexual abuse allegations with anybody except gardaí and the HSE.

He was speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Pat Kenny about the resignation of a child safety officer in a Dublin Catholic Parish, who resigned after she learned of allegations of child sexual abuse made against a priest who had served there.

The priest had been put on restricted Ministry for years as a result of the allegations.

However, Archbishop Martin said that he removed him from Ministry when new information about an old allegation came to light.

Archbishop Martin said he understood and sympathised with the woman, who he said must have felt betrayed.

However, Archbishop Martin said that in the absence of a conviction or a charge, non statutory bodies are restricted in the information they can pass on.

He said that this was a "classic example of the lacunas that exist" within the law currently.

"It's a very serious difficulty at the moment, and legislation has been promised for some time," Archbishop Martin said.

"I have said it may be necessary for the State to offer some form of indemnity to people in the church who have these sorts of responsibilities, but at the moment they are treated as private organisations."

"The difficulties about making any statements or communicating information are becoming greater than they were in the past. This is because of a greater awareness of people of data protection, legislation and their rights," he added.

"The National Association of Priests is carrying on a campaign, a strong campaign, and I can understand where they come from, about not making statements. This situation is becoming more and more complex.

"The most recent norms that have come from the National Board leave many more decisions and options that have to be made and make it much more difficult for a Bishop who is trying to do what is possible, but who finds himself then in a legal quagmire because of the fact that the law is inadequate."

Archbishop Martin said that the Murphy report had found that the diocese had dealt with this particular case adequately.

He said that he has invited the National Board for Safeguarding Children to audit the diocese.

The diocese was audited up until 2004 as a result of the Murphy report, and he said he has been told that it is not a priority as a result.

However, Archbishop Martin said that the number of cases that have been dealt with and the number that have had developments since 2004 may be larger than others and indeed others put together.