Tusla seeks advance sight of St John Ambulance abuse report findings

Tusla, the State child and family agency, has sought advanced sight of the findings of an independent investigation into past child sex abuse in St John Ambulance, before the report is published.

Dr Geoffrey Shannon SC, a child law expert, completed a report on historical child sex abuse in the voluntary first aid organisation last November.

He investigated alleged abuse by a former senior figure in the organisation’s Old Kilmainham division in Dublin, as well as reviewing current child protection policies.

To date nine men have spoken to The Irish Times alleging they were sexually abused by the same former senior figure, between the late 1960s and late 1990s.

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The organisation has said it is currently conducting a review of Dr Shannon’s report. However, abuse survivors have criticised the delay in publishing the findings.

Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman wrote to the organisation last month, pushing for the report to be published “as soon as possible”.

In a December 12th letter, Mr O’Gorman said he was aware the organisation’s board wished to review the contents of the report.

[ St John Ambulance commits to share abuse report with survivors ]

The Minister noted Tusla had written to the organisation in October, to ensure supports were in place for survivors when the report was published.

John Hughes, St John Ambulance commissioner, replied on December 23rd, stating he appreciated survivors were “understandably very eager to review the findings of this report”.

He reiterated that the board was committed to publishing the report in full, following a legal review which would be “as quick and efficient as possible”.

Mr Hughes added he was “wholly committed” to work with Tusla to ensure supports were put in place for survivors and their families.

The board of St John Ambulance is considering setting up a helpline for survivors to contact when the report is published, the organisation told Tusla, according to internal emails between agency officials.

Correspondence between the department and Tusla about the report was released following a Freedom of Information Act request.

In a November 29th email, Des Delaney, the department’s chief social worker, said Tusla “had requested to see the details of the recommendations of the report prior to publication”.

This was in order to “ensure that a communications response was in place” ahead of the report being made public, he said.

[ St John Ambulance must not ‘sit on’ child abuse report ]

A further December 8th email from Tusla to department staff confirmed the agency planned to meet the voluntary body, to review the findings before the report was published.

Emails from Tusla also noted a further case had been reported to the agency related to St John Ambulance in Co Cork.

Dr Shannon was appointed in March 2021 to carry out the independent investigation, following a series of reports in The Irish Times detailing historical child sex abuse in the voluntary organisation.

Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews, Fine Gael Senator Regina Doherty and Labour Party Senator Annie Hoey in recent days have all called for St John Ambulance to publish the report without further delay.