School abuse inquiry: Survivors must wait to see report until after Attorney General review

Survivors of historical sexual abuse in schools will have to wait to see a scoping report into the matter until it has first been reviewed by the Attorney General.

The report, by senior counsel Mary O’Toole SC, has been delivered to Minister for Education Norma Foley on Friday.

However, survivors have been told that it will be sent for review by AG Rossa Fanning before it is distributed to them, with no firm timeline for this process as yet.

Ms Foley’s intention is to send it to survivors and publish thereafter, as soon as it is possible.

[ Blackrock College scandal: more than 290 people accuse 49 Spiritans and 12 lay staff of abuse ]

In a mail to survivors, chair of the scoping inquiry Mary O’Toole praised those involved for their “bravery and good faith”.

Ms O’Toole said that the Minister will be writing to survivors who have participated in the survivor engagement process “regarding next steps”.

“The Scoping Inquiry has concluded its report but the team will continue to keep you updated on developments in relation to the report, and will be in touch in the coming weeks in that regard,” the letter said.

“On behalf of the entire Scoping Inquiry team, we wanted to extend our deepest thanks to you for your contribution to this process. It would not have been possible without the bravery and good faith of survivors, and we are sincerely grateful.”

The Minister for Education later issued a statement which said that the report was a “a substantial body of work, comprising 26 chapters across five volumes, and is over 700 pages in length”.

“I do not intend to delay its publication any longer than absolutely necessary. Following consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, the next step will be to seek government approval to publish the report in the shortest possible timeframe,” she said.

Minister Foley said she was grateful to the survivors who participated and was ”heartened to see that their contributions are foregrounded in the report.”

“I am deeply conscious of the enormous trauma suffered by all survivors of sexual abuse and have always been clear that their voices would be central to the Scoping Inquiry’s Report,” she said.

The Minister said that her thoughts are will all survivors, “especially with those whose stories are contained within the report”, adding that the late Mark Ryan was very much in her thoughts.

“I know that sexual abuse has had horrific and devastating consequences for far too many people. It has ruined lives, divided families and friendships, affected relationships and marriages and undermined people’s careers. Historical sexual abuse is still having an ongoing effect on the lives of so many today,” she added.

Minister Foley also acknowledged the work of the inquiry team and to the charity One in Four who provided support through the process.

The inquiry was established last March in response to revelations of historical child sexual abuse in such schools run by religious orders and it was described as an “inquiry into historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders”. The inquiry will ultimately determine what shape a statutory investigation of abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders might take.

The allegations of widespread abuse in such institutions became public when two brothers spoke of being sexually abused by priests at Blackrock College.

The revelations by Mark and David Ryan in a RTÉ Radio 1 Doc on One documentary in 2022 led to an large number of claims from pupils abused in the schools, which also include Templeogue College in Dublin, St Mary’s College in Dublin and Rockwell College in Co Tipperary.

Mark Ryan died last year, aged 62. At the time, David Ryan said his older brother had been his “rock” since the RTÉ documentary aired. The scandal marked a surge in disclosures of historic abuse from former pupils of fee-paying schools run by other religious congregations as well.

According to a statement on the Blackrock College Union website on Thursday, more than 290 people have now complained against 49 Spiritan clergy and 12 lay members of staff. The revelations led to similar abuse allegations emerging from schools run by other religious congregations, including the Jesuits, Vincentians, Dominicans, Carmelites, and Benedictines.

Approximately 50 individual restorative justice meetings have taken place to date with face-to-face meetings between victims and those who currently run the Spiritan order.

Survivors want a public inquiry to be established and believe a State apology may be warranted.