Rate of Abuse Cases Reported Falls

By Patsy McGarry
Irish Times
June 5, 2012

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0605/breaking24.html

National Board for Safeguarding Children chief executive Ian Elliot. The NBSC said fewer abuse reports were made compared to the year to April 2011.

[with pdf]

The Catholic Church's National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) was notified about 237 additional clerical child sex abuse cases up to April 1st this year.

These involved 196 priests or religious and originated predominantly from adults who complained of abuse which took place in their childhood.

Just six cases related to alleged abuse that occurred since the year 2000.

It represents a drop on the previous year when 272 new reports were made to the NBSC.

The board responded to 156 requests for advice and support across the Church during the year, with 89 requests coming from 26 dioceses and 67 requests from 30 religious congregations over the year. Up to April 1st, 2011, such requests totalled 104, itself an increase from 99 the previous year.

Since March 31st last, there has also been "huge developments in training and support for dioceses and religious congregations" where safeguarding children, it said.

Eight tutors have been appointed, two in each metropolitan area, whose job it is to train and assess the trainers and then recommend them to be registered with the NBSC.

The board has found disparities in practice where child protection was concerned by the two statutory authorities in both jurisdictions on the island were "unhelpful to the Church organisations." It said "some differences occur which give rise to difficulties for us as an all-island body seeking to establish a uniform and consistent practice irrespective of location."

There has been an increase in demand for support and advice from the NBSC by Church authorities, which has been welcomed but it expressed the hope that "increased resources will be secured to increase and improve the delivery of key training objectives."

According to the annual report , "each Church authority that notified us of a new case over the last year also reported that they had communicated the details to the relevant statutory agencies".

It said the response made to those complaining of clerical abuse is "improving". Reports are being made quickly and comprehensively to the appropriate statutory authorities, it said.

"Contact with these agencies is good, with a shared recognition of the value of having an open, collaborative working relationship in place," it said.

It was also found that a number of the newer cases that had previously been reported to either the Garda, PSNI or health authorities by the Church body involved had not been communicated to the other.

It was believed that reports made to one agency would automatically be given to the other through the existence of a joint protocol between the statutory child protection agencies.

Through its review and audit of processes within the Church, the NBSC found that this protocol had not always been operating, with some reports only known to one of the statutory child protection agencies.

The practice of the Church today is to report to both child protection agencies, both verbally and in writing, to ensure that all child safeguarding matters that come to its attention are shared with the appropriate statutory bodies.

It commends "the many thousands of volunteers who are helping to ensure that the Church is a safe place for their children".

The board has established a National Case Management Reference Group (NCMRG) on a pilot basis for one year. The report said this was because the NBSC "became convinced that there was a need for such a centralised advisory body from a review of advice offered by some existing diocesan and congregational advisory panels."

The aim of the NCMRG will be to provide high-quality advice to bishops, religious superiors/provincials when they are called upon to respond to safeguarding cases.

It said that "in the light of the references to the work of the Board, as contained in the Summary of the Findings of the Apostolic Visitation in Ireland, released in March of this year, a more targeted approach is now being adopted concerning the Board's primary objectives for this coming year." It will include "acceleration in the review programme, affecting dioceses particularly" it said.

NBSC chairman John Morgan paid tribute to "the consistently superb Contribution" by chief executive Ian Elliott and his team "for their continuing efforts to constantly seek to improve the service standards and performance" of the board, "often under testing conditions."

In his report Mr Elliott recalled that in November last year, the first tranche of review reports was released by the six dioceses that were audited.

"Prior to the launch, a degree of anticipatory anxiety was expressed by those involved," he said. "Their concern was that media would be hostile. In the event, this proved not to be the case. The reports were received well and many positive comments were made by those within and outside the Church welcoming the transparency of the process".

Mr Elliott said that the second tranche of reviews is well under way, which will involve a further four dioceses along with three religious orders. "It is our hope that the review reports will then be released following the example of the six dioceses within the first tranche," he said. "We would anticipate that twice a year all the Church authorities that have been reviewed will together publish their reports."

He said that "a matter of concern to us has been the level of resources available" to the NBSC "to enable us to fulfil our remit successfully." He noted that this has been acknowledged by those representing its sponsoring bodies, the bishops, Cori and the Irish Missionary Union "who have confirmed ….that they would be anxious to try to continue to support the board in its work."

Mr Elliott warned that the Government's Children First Bill 2012 and the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill, 2012 "will not achieve what it intends unless it is amended".

His concern was with "the proposed and currently inadequately qualified defence of 'reasonable excuse' in failing to disclose information around defined offences against children and vulnerable persons" in the proposed Criminal Justice Bill.

Unless amended "it is foreseeable that our existing Church policy, designed to safeguard children, might be materially weakened" by this legislation, he said.