Saoirse McGarrigle

A PRIVATE LAW firm is representing the State in an independent review to determine whether a congregation of nuns can take back money set aside to deal with sex abuse claims.

The Department of Health confirmed to The Journal that Comyn Kelleher Tobin is representing it and the HSE as they engage with an unnamed independent expert.

The Medical Missionaries of Mary are trying to withdraw money from a fund intended to indemnify the State against legal cases taken by victims of disgraced doctor Michael Shine.

The Congregation ran the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda where Shine worked as a surgeon for decades and where many of the alleged incidents of abuse took place.

A schedule of records obtained on foot of a Freedom of Information request shows that 63 emails were sent or received by the Department of Health over the past year in relation to the Indemnity Agreement.

The Department refused to release the contents of the correspondence, insisting that it “would disclose confidential communications between the Department and our legal advisor and other parties and their legal advisor”.

Victims say that they appreciate that the review is ongoing, but the Department should still be able to give them some basic details about how the process is being conducted.

Ian Armstrong told The Journal that he and other victims are appealing for “more transparency”.

“We have had no communication from the Department of Health, no communication whatsoever,” he said.

CEO of the support and advocacy organisation Dignity4Patients Adrienne Reilly said that the lack of communication with victims demonstrates that the State has failed to deliver its promise of a victim-centred approach to dealing with the Shine case.

Last August, after a number of victims spoke publicly for the first time, Tanaiste (then-Taoiseach) Simon Harris said: “We need to actually help these people get the answers, and we need to do it in a victim, survivor-centred way.

“So what I want them to know is that I hear them, that I do want government to engage with them, but I also want that engagement to be useful from their point of view.”

The Department of Health also confirmed to The Journal this week that the independent expert will be paid “in accordance with the provisions of the deed”.

The 1997 Agreement stipulated that fees and expenses paid to the independent expert “shall be shared equally between the Congregation and the Minister”.

Ian Armstrong said that he felt it was “very odd” that the nuns were paying half of the cost of a report that could decide if they can withdraw the funds themselves. 

Hundreds of men claim that they were abused by Shine over decades while he worked at the hospital and operated a private practice in the Louth town.

The hospital, established in 1939, was owned and run by the nuns until 1997 when it was sold to the North Eastern Health Board for IR£5.5 million.

The day before the purchase was announced by the then-Health Minister Michael Noonan, the Medical Missionaries of Mary signed a Deed of Indemnity and Charge.

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The purpose of the agreement was to indemnify the State against claims “arising out of or in connection with” potential liability in respect of possible claims of alleged abuse.

The Agreement refers to allegations of abuse at the time that it was signed in 1997: “Various incidents of sexual abuse (‘the alleged abuse’) may have occurred in the hospital during the period of ownership thereof by the Congregation.”

A fund was created and a lodgement of IR£1.6 million was made by the Congregation, into an “interest bearing deposit account with The Investment Bank of Ireland” more than 28 years ago. It’s understood the fund is now worth multiples of that original amount and that it has never been accessed by the State to make payments to victims. 

While there have been cases taken, payments were made through insurers.  

The congregation’s solicitors, Arthur Cox, were “irrevocably appointed by the Order to administer the fund”.

However, two years ago, the Medical Missionaries of Mary sought permission to withdraw the funds, leading to the appointment of an independent expert to decide whether this could be permitted. No decision has been made public. 

Comment has been sought from the congregation.