The God Squad

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

TWO MONTHS following publication of the Ryan commission report on May 20th, four members of that commission remain in situ, in unexplained circumstances.

All four are being paid fortnightly at department assistant secretary levels, between €150,000 and €160,000 annually.

Current estimates indicate that the overall cost of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, to give the Ryan commission its proper title, could be between €89 million and €99 million. By the end of 2008, that figure was €59.3 million, with further costs being estimated at between €30 million and €40 million.

The commission had six members, together with its chairman Mr Justice Seán Ryan.

Mr Justice Ryan took his seat at the High Court early in June. Commissioner Norah Gibbons formally resigned from her post on May 20th following publication of the report. However, her work with the commission’s confidential committee ended in March 2006 when she returned to Barnardos, the children’s agency, where she is a director. She has not received payment from the commission since then.

Prof Edward Tempany, a retired consultant paediatrician, had been appointed to the commission to help with its vaccine trials inquiry. This was discontinued in November 2003 following an action in the High Court, as was his work at the commission.

The four remaining commissioners are clinical psychologist Fred Lowe, social workers Anne McLoughlin and Mary Fennessy, and solicitor Marian Shanley.

One has served eight years on the commission while the most recent has been a member since 2005.

Asked why, though the remit of the commission had been extended by the Government to the end of May, four commissioners remained, a spokesman for the Department of Education said that “the specified period of the commission relates to the publication of the report and legally the report had to be published during the specified period”.

He continued: “The other functions of the commission, ie settlement of third-party costs, management of discovery documentation etc can statutorily continue after the specified period has elapsed and until such time as the Minister dissolves the commission by order.”

It was pointed out to the department spokesman that the functions he referred to were the work of administrative staff. He was asked, in that context, why the remaining four commissioners were necessary when the chairman himself was not.

The spokesman replied: “Now that the commission has reported, yes the department is actively looking at the issue of the stepping down of the commissioners with due regard to the legislation and their legal entitlements.”

In addition to the four remaining commissioners, there are approximately 10 administrative staff, some on secondment from Government departments, some on short-term contracts.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Comptroller and Auditor General has submitted a report on the Ryan commission to the Government in recent weeks.

A final draft report, into the legal and non-legal costs of the commission during its nine years of sitting, went to the Department of Education on June 29th.

The Irish Times 20th July 2009