Government's efforts to help children of priests questioned

Coping International, which helps children of priests around the world, has received the backing of the Vatican and of senior archbishops here for its work. File Picture: Tim Boyle/Getty Images

The Government's efforts to assist the children of priests have been questioned after the newly published mother and baby homes report revealed almost a dozen incidents where members of the clergy were or could have been the father of a child.

Coping International, which helps children of priests around the world, has received the backing of the Vatican and of senior archbishops here for its work, yet according to its founder Vincent Doyle, the Government has not followed suit — even after a UN report on Ireland raised concerns over the "lack of measures to ensure that children fathered by Catholic priests are able to access information on the identity of their fathers".