Former Tusla chief had ‘no concerns’ about St John Ambulance

The former chief executive of Tusla previously said the State agency had no concerns about historical child sexual abuse in St John Ambulance, or current protection standards in the first aid organisation.

However, an independent investigation by Dr Geoffrey Shannon SC, has detailed serious failings in how the organisation responded to alleged child abuse in the past, as well as concerns with current practices.

A former senior officer in the Old Kilmainham division in Dublin is alleged to have sexually abused more than 15 boys in the organisation, between the late 1960s and late 1990s.

The report from Dr Shannon, published on Thursday, found there was a “significant degree of organisational awareness” of the dangers posed by the alleged perpetrator at the time.

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It said despite this the organisation had for years failed to take action against the man, in part in order to protect its reputation.

Dr Shannon said there had been “failures at a systemic level” when it came to child protection, with the organisation’s structures facilitating “grooming and predatory behaviour”.

Internal correspondence, seen by The Irish Times, shows Tusla previously gave St John Ambulance a clean bill of health, when concerns about past abuse were raised by a TD.

As Fianna Fáil Opposition spokeswoman for children, Minister of State Anne Rabbitte had privately written to then minister for children Katherine Zappone in 2019, after meeting three men abused by the former senior figure in St John Ambulance.

In a 5th December 2019 response, Bernard Gloster, then-Tusla chief executive, assured Ms Rabbitte past alleged abuse had not been widespread.

Tusla had previously conducted an investigation into disclosures from two of the survivors, and deemed their child sex abuse allegations made against the former senior figure to be “founded”.

Mr Gloster said a senior social worker had reviewed records in the Dublin Mid-Leinster region and had not found any further reports of past alleged abuse in the organisation.

“Therefore all available information suggests that there is no evidence of systemic or organisational abuse within St John Ambulance,” he wrote.

The Tusla chief executive said he had been advised “that there are no current concerns” with standards in the organisation. He added agency officials had reviewed its child safeguarding statement which was deemed to be compliant.

Mr Gloster, who is now head of the Health Service Executive (HSE), said he hoped the correspondence addressed all concerns Ms Rabbitte had in relation to the organisation.

In a further September 21st, 2020 letter, Tusla told St John Ambulance it did not have “any concerns” with its management of past abuse allegations.

The agency added it had no concerns “that there was any failure to act on the part” of voluntary body.

However, the report from Dr Shannon, a leading child law expert, strongly criticised current standards and policies in the organisation.

It concluded a culture resistant to change in St John Ambulance was posing an “ongoing threat” to the organisation’s ability to keep children safe in the present day.

The report expressed significant concern with a number of contemporary cases of alleged child sex abuse and child protection cases in the organisation in recent years.

It found an “ongoing lack of transparency and accountability” over the organisation’s cadet divisions for children, posed a risk of “unsafe child protection practices”.

The report also criticised a lack of supervision on camping trips run for cadets in the organisation and failings in its Garda vetting system for volunteers.

Kate Duggan, interim Tusla chief executive, said the agency was currently reviewing the report. “[It] will follow up accordingly with St John Ambulance if any current or retrospective child protection issues are identified in the report,” she said.