IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church
Allegations Notified to the National Office – 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014
The National Office has been collecting information on allegations, concerns and suspicions of child
abuse against priests and religious since 2009. In the first couple of years the flow of information to
the National Office was slow; however, there is now a real acceptance that in addition to notifying the
civil authorities, relevant information should also be shared with the National Office consistent with
requirements of data protection legislation. To allow the exchange of information, all Church authorities have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Board. The National Office staff offer advice regarding notification to the civil authorities and the management of risk by the Church authority. The data also allows the National Office to provide an overview of the numbers of allegations. In the past five years there has been a significant number of allegations made (see charts below), totalling 1,042.
However, care needs to be exercised in interpreting this data, as a small number of these notifications can be re-referrals and also the data includes allegations, suspicions and concerns and should not be viewed as the total number of allegations of proven abuse. During the period April 2013 until end March 2014, there has been a decrease in numbers of allegations made in comparison to the same period 2012–2013. There were 64 received against priests from dioceses and 100 against
priests and religious from religious congregations. The total number received was 164. Monthly, the notifications made to the Board are as follows:
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