Nationwide church abuse inquiry ordered

A TOP level investigation into whether paedophile priests have been allowed to remain in positions of authority despite serious accusations of child abuse against them will be ordered by the Cabinet tomorrow.

The sweeping national audit of every diocese in the country is to be unveiled by Justice Minister Michael McDowell alongside a statutory inquiry centred on allegations in the Dublin area.

The framework for the most far-reaching investigation into the scale of abuse by priests in Ireland has been revised in the aftermath of the Ferns report following consultation with victims and to encompass the national scale of the probe.

The State-wide audit will take the form of an independent examination of every diocese in the Republic, to establish whether there are current child protection concerns relating to serving priests.

The Dublin investigation will focus on the response of the church authorities to allegations of sexual abuse against more than 70 priests in and around the capital.

It is expected the examination will recommend whether or not other dioceses should be the subject of a full statutory investigation by the inquiry.

The national audit is unlikely to look at every file on record in each diocese relating to child abuse allegations, but will instead seek to establish whether dioceses currently have adequate child protection measures.

A key task of the probe will be to examine whether priests against whom serious allegations of child abuse have been made have been allowed to continue in ministry in recent years and whether this has placed children at risk.

The audit was announced by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in the Dáil after the publication of the harrowing Ferns report.

That study found there had been allegations against 27 clerics made by more than 100 people, and that in many cases priests had been able to continue in ministry right up until three years ago.

Minister of State with responsibility for children Brian Lenihan has already written to Catholic bishops asking them whether their current child protection policies are in line with those introduced in Ferns in 2002.

These require that any priest accused of child abuse stand aside pending an investigation.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Rory Brady is considering whether the State should pay legal costs incurred by Ferns diocese in its dealings with the Ferns inquiry.

It has been reported the diocese has sought €100,000 from the inquiry to cover legal fees it incurred in dealing with the inquiry. A spokesman for the diocese would neither confirm nor deny this.

In light of the Ferns report and ahead of the new inquiries, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has asked priests there to begin a programme of consultation with lay parishioners as to how the archdiocese can improve child protection structures.