Three Dioceses Criticised

Irish Times
October 11, 2012

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1012/1224325187838.html

[the full report]

The reporting record of Raphoe, both in quality of information and speed of reporting, was found to be “poor”. Information was “difficult to decipher” and there were problems with dates.

Almost 80 per cent of the allegations that could be categorised took more than a year to report. There were five allegations against 12 priests (82 per cent were against four priests) in the reporting period.

Raphoe met many of the standards but recommendations included developing a policy on managing those who pose a risk to children and a complaints policy.

OSSORY DIOCESE

The report is very critical of the information on allegations provided by the diocese. It found “significant omissions” from the audit returns to be “concerning”, and describes the quality of data as “poor” , particularly in relation to dates. There were 27 allegations against nine priests since 1996. Two were reported to the HSE decades after the diocese was notified. The diocese was under the “mistaken impression” the Meath diocese was handling allegations against a priest in Ossory.