A prominent firm of Dublin solicitors has been contacted by a senior Government official concerned about the nature of its correspondence with victims of institutional child abuse.
The official wrote to Michael E. Hanahoe Solicitors saying a letter sent to its clients incorrectly implied they could not access the services of a Government-funded national survivors' office unless they returned a consent form to the firm.
The complaint came from Mr Thomas Boland, the principal of legal services in the Department of Education and Science, which established the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse chaired by Ms Justice Laffoy.
Victims of abuse in State institutions and religious-run schools since the 1940s are expected to give testimonies to the commission later this year.
Michael E. Hanahoe Solicitors said Mr Boland's letter, dated May 17th, "seriously misrepresented" the position of the firm, which represents a large number of survivors of abuse in institutions under the Department's supervision or control.
"Mr Boland's letter referred to particular correspondence between us and our clients and was aggressive and intemperate in tone and made totally unfounded allegations against this firm.
"It was circulated by him to other parties without our consent," said Mr Anthony Hanahoe in a weekend statement issued to The Irish Times.
Mr Boland's concerns arose from a letter sent by Michael E. Hanahoe to clients dated May 15th. It said the Alliance for Healing of Institutional Abuse, a survivors' group for which the firm has been acting as legal representative, was involved in negotiations with Government officials for a national survivors office due to open in the near future.
A form of consent and authorisation was enclosed, allowing the solicitors to furnish clients' details to this office. The letter concluded that if the form was not returned the client's name would not be submitted.
Two days later, Mr Boland wrote to Hanahoe Solicitors, setting out his concerns.
"It is not apparent to me in what capacity your firm are acting in issuing this letter, but regardless of your capacity I am greatly concerned that you would seek to associate your firm with the services to be provided to vulnerable and sensitive people in the way this letter appears to," his letter stated.
"In my view there is every danger that a person would take from the letter an implication that unless the form of consent is returned signed, the addressee will not be able to access the services."
Mr Hanahoe said in his statement that it was a "contemptible suggestion" for Mr Boland to say he was concerned his firm would seek to associate itself with services to be provided to vulnerable and sensitive people.
"We have been acting for survivors of institutional abuse since before the first television programmes on this issue. We have given advice and assistance without payment to the Alliance for Healing of Institutional Abuse and we have spent countless hours preparing cases for victims of abuse which have been met with a defence of outright denial of liability by Mr Boland's Department," he said.
"We had nothing to gain from informing our clients about the proposed office and passing on their details if they wished us to do so. We do not need lectures from the Department of Education, which has not yet acknowledged its responsibility for the abuse visited upon people under its care."
Mr Hanahoe said the consent and authorisation form was sent only to the firm's clients and was a precondition for them to release confidential information.
He said the letter was covered by solicitor/client confidentiality and "it was quite improper in our view for someone who represented one side in litigation to interfere in the relationship between solicitor and client on the other side of the controversy."
Mr Boland, as head of legal services in the Department, was well aware Mr Hanahoe's firm represented large numbers of survivors both in proceedings in which his Department is a defendant and in relation to the Laffoy commission. "His claim not to know in what capacity we were writing was disingenuous," he said.
Mr Hanahoe said his firm "utterly rejects" the suggestion that the letter to its clients implied they could not access the office and its services if they did not sign and return the form. The letter clearly stated that the office would act for "all survivors of institutional abuse," he said, and his office had not received a single query from clients about whether they could access the office without signing the form.
Mr Boland's letter had also said it was "entirely incorrect and seriously misleading" for the Hanahoe letter to refer to the "Alliance office". He said the Department and the health authorities would establish a serviced, professionally-staffed office in Dublin and one in Cork for the use of all groups and individuals.
Mr Hanahoe said the alliance had been in negotiation with the Department since September 1999 seeking the establishment of an office for the use of survivors of institutional abuse.
"It was clearly understood in these negotiations and regularly so reported in Alliance minutes that this office was to be run by the Alliance but would cater for all survivors who wished to avail of its services. This was specifically discussed in those terms at a meeting between Alliance representatives and the Minister for Education which was attended by Mr Boland," he added.
Extracts of minutes from the alliance's committee meetings from last year and this year contain references to a proposal by the Government to make available an office for the alliance. A letter dated June 7th 2000 and signed by the alliance's secretary stated that an office had been allocated to the alliance. Edited extracts of these documents were shown to The Irish Times by Michael E. Hanahoe.