A victims' support group has called upon the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse to remove legal restrictions on hearing its members' voices.
In a written submission to the commission within the past week, the Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (Irish SOCA) called for independent legal advocacy, a review of the commission's composition, and an increase in legal fees.
At its first public sitting last month, the commission proposed to have a single team of barristers representing all survivors of abuse.
Some of the groups representing victims have criticised this and called for representation by lawyers already familiar with their cases.
Irish SOCA has urged its members to boycott the commission's hearings because it disagrees with its terms of reference and objects to the fact that evidence given by alleged abusers cannot be used in any future court cases.
At last month's public sitting, the commission's chairwoman, Ms Justice Laffoy, said such a provision was normal in situations where witnesses were compelled to answer questions even though they feared their replies might be incriminating.
In its six-page submission to the commission, Irish SOCA "calls upon all concerned to evade obstacles to effective investigation and effective change and to allow our childhood and now adult voices to be heard without restrictions and with fairness and appropriate support.
"We fear the commission is evading this through its process of extending privilege and immunity of evidence requested by the commission, its designation of differential budgets for legal representation of the survivors and perpetrators and its composition".
The group urged the commission to "view our position with fairness and equality and to remember the children we once were whose childhoods were stolen from us".
The group's co-ordinator, Mr John Kelly, said the submission did not mean the group would co-operate with the commission, which did not meet the needs of its members. The group has demanded an independent tribunal.