Department officials knew of cruelty but did little to stop it
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THE Department of Education failed to protect thousands of children who were abused in industrial and reformatory schools.
Its officials were aware of widespread physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, brothers and nuns, but did little to stop it. The report says the department dealt inadequately with complaints of sexual abuse, which were generally dismissed or ignored.
A full investigation of the extent of the abuse should have been carried out in all cases and all such complaints should have been directed to the gardai for investigation, the report concludes.
"The department gave the impression that it had a function in relation to investigating allegations of abuse but actually failed to do so and delayed the involvement of the proper authority," it said.
"It neglected to advise parents and complainants appropriately of the limitations of its role in respect of these complaints.
"The department did not apply the standards in the rules and their own guidelines when investigating complaints but sought to protect and defend the religious congregations and the school."
Department officials had a deferential and submissive attitude towards the religious orders, which compromised their ability to carry out statutory monitoring and inspection of schools.
The system of inspection was "fundamentally flawed", according to the report.
Inspectors received no support and did not have powers to insist on changes. And inspections were neither random nor unannounced.
Neither the department or the schools investigated the reasons children ran away, leading to cases of absconding related to chronic sexual or physical abuse going undetected.
Scandal
The department had a system of managing complaints that minimised adverse publicity and scandal. Its trust in the religious congregations led to a sceptical approach and it rejected complaints in the majority of cases.
Instead, the department relied on the resident manager to respond to complaints and tackle the issues raised. This approach was a serious failure in the department's supervisory role.
The report reveals that the department did not even insist on qualified teachers in the institutions run by the Christian Brothers.
In 1932, at their request, it allowed religious brothers with only one year's training to teach for up to five years before they had to complete their second year of training.
Children in industrial schools were entitled to at least the same standard as that available in national schools generally and teachers were paid in the same way in both types of schools.
But the evidence was that the standard of education in industrial schools was poor.
The Department of Health favoured a policy of foster care but the Department of Education wanted the children to be sent to institutions.
At one stage, in 1946, the Department of Education expressly forbade the boarding out of children from industrial schools into foster care.
- John Walshe and Shane Phelan
