The Department of Education made crucial changes to its position in negotiations with the religious orders over compensation for child abuse victims in the absence of officials from the Attorney General's office, it has emerged. Mark Brennock and Liam Reid report
As the new details were revealed yesterday at a meeting of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, strongly defended the deal between the State and religious orders on compensation - as did the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, who said the State had put the victims into the institutions, and did not follow up when abuses were known for some time.
Ms Harney declined to back her party colleague Mr Michael McDowell's complaint that he as Attorney General was excluded from key talks.
In a letter to the religious orders on November 6th, 2001, the Department of Education performed a significant U-turn, agreeing to consider counting the value of property given by religious orders to the State in the past towards the value of the total religious' contribution. Up to that point the State team, including officials from the Attorney General's office and the Department of Finance, had held out against this, the PAC was told.
In the November 6th letter the Department also offered the religious orders an indemnity against all future abuse claims by people within the "remit" of the Redress Board - potentially all victims of residential child abuse. This was an expansion of the indemnity being considered previously, which covered only victims who actually went to the Redress Board.
The PAC heard that the day after this letter was sent outlining the new position, the then Minister for Education, Dr Michael Woods, held the first of two meetings with the religious orders from which the Attorney General's representatives were excluded.
The Secretary General of the Department of Education Mr John Dennehy said this was a short meeting concerning policy rather than legal matters, and so it was not necessary for legal advisers to be there. The second meeting not attended by representatives of the AG's office discussed details of the orders' offer involving cash, properties transferred in the past and to be given over to the State in the future, as well as funding for counselling services and education.
A draft indemnity deal prepared by the orders' law firm was on the table, but Dr Woods refused to discuss it without legal advisers present, Mr Dennehy said.
A letter from Mr McDowell's office to the Department several months after the State's position changed indicated his understanding was the old indemnity proposal still applied, thus questioning the claims by Dr Woods and the Taoiseach that he was kept informed of everything relevant.
The Minister for Justice Mr McDowell sparked a major political controversy this week when he contradicted Dr Woods' assertion that he had been involved in talks at all appropriate times.
The Comptroller and Auditor General Mr John Purcell told the PAC "greater diligence" by the State in the talks "would have added extra rigour" to its negotiating strategy.
Meanwhile it has emerged that the controversial indemnity clause has been invoked on at least one occasion in which the State paid between €150,000 to 200,000 in a settlement to a man who was sexually abused while a resident of St. Joseph's orphanage in Kilkenny.