The St John of God congregation had not been able to establish as fact any complaints made against members where the abuse of children resident at its institutions was concerned, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was told yesterday.
Fr Fintan Brennan Whitmore, provincial of the congregation in Ireland, was explaining why they had not issued a public apology where alleged abuse of children was concerned.
There had been "no convictions, no proceedings where any court process was concerned, no confessions," he said. The commission has received 13 complaints from former residents of the congregation's institutions.
It has managed institutions for children with learning disabilities at St Augustine's in Blackrock, Co Dublin; St Mary's, Drumcairn, Co Louth; Celbridge, Co Kildare; Glenageary, Co Dublin and Mulhuddart, Dublin, the latter until the 1950s. It also runs the Granada Institute in Dublin which treats adult perpetrators of sex abuse.
Fr Brennan Whitmore said the congregation had been aware of sex abuse for some time before other institutions as it had an expertise in treating perpetrators. However, the first allegation made against an "agent of the order" was in 1996.
He established a group to guide him on handling complaints, which usually involved meeting the complainant. Counselling was offered and the complainant was advised to contact gardaí, as the congregation did.
He checked files for any relevant information but found "no data which was able to verify or establish as fact what had been said about abuse," he said. Some accused were deceased, while those living "had no recollection of any such thing occurring."
The commission chairman, Justice Seán Ryan, asked whether he was suggesting he might find a confession in the files. Fr Brennan Whitmore replied that if abuse was widespread he "would expect something".
The congregation contributed to the State redress scheme to avoid the trauma of lengthy litigation, as an act of solidarity with other congregations, and "the indemnity was also attractive," he said.
Mr Kevin Stanley, programme development manager with the Irish Deaf Society, addressing the committee through interpreters using sign language, said they had established a survivors' group for deaf people following the States of Fear series on RTÉ in 1999. He linked the abuse of deaf people in institutions to the banning of "Irish Sign Language" (ISL) in favour of "oralism" (lip reading), and said 80 per cent of deaf people had "literacy issues".
He said deaf survivors were having great difficulty preparing statements for the commission due to a shortage of interpreters, and requested they be permitted to give evidence by video. This was agreed to.
The Aislinn Centre in Dublin will not be giving evidence to the hearings as expected next week as it is not being allowed legal representation. The centre's Ms Christine Buckley last night queried why State witnesses and religious congregations were being allowed such legal representation but survivor groups were not.
She felt the commission was "making a mockery of us. They are treating us as simpletons. It is grossly unfair as we don't have the resources [to pay legal fees] in our own right."
