Madam, – On May 12th you carried a report on the launch of the Annual Report of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI).
On behalf of Cori, one of the three sponsoring bodies of the National Board (the others being the Irish Episcopal Conference and the Irish Missionary Union) I wish to address an accusation of non-cooperation made by the NBSCCCI and covered in your report.
I wish to clarify that the delay in proceeding with the audit of the current management of child abuse cases in dioceses, religious congregations and missionary societies, was not motivated by any desire, attempt or intention to obstruct or delay the audit being conducted by the independent National Board. All concerned had a duty to comply with Data Protection legislation and as the National Board is not a statutory body, it was necessary to obtain legal advice. To construe this as a deliberate attempt by the church to obstruct an audit that was being voluntarily undertaken is disingenuous and inaccurate.
It is abundantly to clear to all involved, including the National Board, that current Irish law does not facilitate the sharing of necessary information required for child safeguarding with non-statutory bodies. The necessary legislative changes required to overcome this data protection difficulty is a matter for Government.
All religious congregations, missionary societies and dioceses have signed a memorandum of understanding to abide by the Standards and Guidelines for the Catholic Church in Ireland as issued by the National Board, which are in line with best international practice for the safeguarding of children.
Cori does not, and will not, tolerate or countenance any failure to report allegations, suspicions or concerns in relation to child safeguarding to the authorities, however, we also understand that this will be done in compliance with the law as it stands. – Yours, etc,