Live: Child Protection Reports

RTE News
September 5, 2012

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0905/child-protection-reports.html

The audits found that full compliance with guidelines was still some way off

[with audio]

[with video]

The audits have found a higher incidence of abuse allegations against members of religious congregations than against priests in the four dioceses that have been audited.

Reports on the audits say full compliance with child protection guidelines is still some way off.

The audits were conducted by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the four dioceses and, for the first time, three religious congregations.

They deal with more than 330 allegations of abuse against 146 priests and members of those congregations.

The reports found good practice in places, contrasting with very poor practice elsewhere.

Helplines for those affected by abuse are on Aertel page 127.

The authors discovered examples where offenders were able to continue abusing children for longer than they should have, because individuals who were known to be a risk were not properly managed.

They also uncovered allegations of abuse that had not been reported to gardaí, commenting that full compliance with child protection practices agreed three years ago is still some way off.

Those allegations were immediately reported on the insistence of the board, resulting in several new garda investigations.

These are expected to lead to criminal charges in a number of cases.

Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Chief Executive of the National Board of Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church Ian Elliott said he was shocked and disappointed with what the audits found in religious orders.

Mr Elliot said the level of abuse was much higher in the orders than in the any diocese examined so far.

He said there was evidence of very poor practice and the safeguarding framework that existed was not of a nature or stage that they would have wanted.

He said one of the most concerning discoveries was that a number of the individuals who identified as abusers had worked in schools, and the abuse had taken place within schools.

Mr Elliot said in some cases the bad management involved them being moved from one school to another - something that should never happen.

He said in dioceses, the bishop is such an important person that everyone who occupies that role needs to be competent with regard to safeguarding children. He said it is not acceptable for a bishop not to be up to the mark.