The director of services with the Brothers of Charity in Galway has rejected a suggestion that the organisation "dragged its feet" in helping people in its care to go forward to an official abuse inquiry.
Mr Patrick McGinley was referring to concerns expressed by Ms Margaret Kennedy in a letter to the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, and reported in The Irish Times on December 19th.
Ms Kennedy, a specialist in disability and abuse, has been employed by the Brothers of Charity in Galway since 2001. To date she has provided 23 training workshops on client protection for 505 of the brothers' staff.
The brothers provide a service to 950 children and adults with intellectual disability in Co Galway.
Ms Kennedy wrote to Mr Martin about "the alleged sexual abuse of large numbers of learning disabled people" at the brothers' centre in Kilcornan, Clarinbridge, Co Galway, and said that, while the brothers had "facilitated 17 residents going forward to the Laffoy Commission", she was told they had "'dragged their feet' over others and missed the deadline".
In a statement Mr McGinley rejected this "outright" and described Ms Kennedy's claim that the service had dragged its feet in facilitating residents going to the Laffoy Commission as "totally untrue". In December 1998 the brothers requested the Western Health Board to investigate allegations of abuse which may have occurred in their residential services in Galway, and asked it to assist anyone who wished to make a complaint to the Garda.
On January 22nd, 1999, he wrote to all families of people in the residences, advising them of the inquiry and on February 2Ist, 1999, advertisements were placed in local and national newspapers informing and encouraging co-operation with the inquiry.
"Everyone who came forward with a complaint of abuse that was made known to our service was encouraged, facilitated and offered professional support including independent legal support to go forward to the Laffoy Commission," Mr McGinley said.
Finally, he wished it to be known that "we have a large number of dedicated, committed and hard-working staff, that go about their work in a professional way on behalf of our residents wherever they are in Co Galway. There is excellent work going on in Kilcornan and in every other centre in our services."