Decision on investigation after HSE audit, says Cowen

THE GOVERNMENT is awaiting the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) audit of all dioceses before deciding whether to extend the commission of investigation’s remit to other dioceses, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said.

As calls increased from abuse survivors and others for the commission to investigate all remaining dioceses in the State, Mr Cowen told the Dáil that “we reserve our position”.

He pointed to the Cloyne diocese where an investigation was carried out “when it became clear that there was prima facie evidence of a need to fully investigate the diocese”. He said “we reserve our position and await the HSE audit so we can decide whether to take the matter further”.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore pressed Mr Cowen about extending the investigation and challenged him about the patronage of schools by bishops criticised in the Murphy report on the Dublin archdiocese’s handling of clerical child abuse allegations.

He asked if Mr Cowen considered it “acceptable” that a bishop criticised in the report “should continue to be patron of schools that children attend”.

It was time “the State and Government asserted their authority”, and could use the 1988 Education Act which set down how patronage could operate.

“This is a test of whether we are learning anything from these reports or follow their logic, and whether the Government and the State will stand up to this kind of thing or we will continue with the kind of latter-day deference which gave rise to this problem in the first place,” Mr Gilmore said.

Mr Cowen replied that “in terms of the current governance of our schools, there is an ex officio reality that bishops of dioceses are patrons of Catholic schools. They have no executive role whatsoever under our legislation in terms of the child protection policies which apply in our schools.”

Earlier, Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said “where school patrons have broken the law, we depend on the Garda to investigate to ensure that such persons are brought through the courts and that the appropriate punishment is administered”.

He said the Government and his department were examining patronage “in general. We are involved in a wide-ranging review.”

Answering education questions in the Dáil, the Minister said his officials recently met Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Bishop O’Reilly and thought the clergy would outline the schools they had in mind for a change of patronage.

“They did not do that, but they indicated clearly that where we could identify areas where a change of patron might be deemed appropriate, they would consider them, but that it would only be done on the basis of discussion between the parents, teachers and general community.”

He insisted the bishop as school patron was “in place in terms of ethos but has nothing to do with the overall management”.

He said “it would not be tolerated that the outstanding people across the country who are acting as members of boards of management would in any way be involved with the archbishops or anyone who broke the law.” But Labour spokesman Ruairi Quinn said the patron had more powers “including the appointment of the chairperson of the board of management, and patrons have a daily role in the management of schools and the selection and appointment of the principal”.