Solicitors representing up to 1,000 abuse survivors have told the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse there was a serious risk it would, as constituted, compound the harm already suffered by their clients.
The warning came in a letter from solicitor Mr James Mac Guill, on behalf of a number of solicitors representing abuse victims throughout the State, which was read out at yesterday's public sitting by the commission's chairwoman, Ms Justice Laffoy.
The letter says the solicitors' clients had, "with considerable regret", decided the commission, as constituted, was "fundamentally flawed", and risked compounding the harm the clients had already suffered. The letter then refers to "the serious criticisms" that have been levelled at the State, and the Department of Education in particular, for permitting "the now acknowledged appalling state of affairs in regard to child abuse to continue".
Therefore, the clients were concerned about the significant role to be played in the work of the commission by the Department, which constituted "an unacceptable conflict of interest".
It was "unacceptable . . .that the defendant to proceedings, who persists in denial of liability, should have the advantage of a preview of a survivor's evidence through the work of the commission", the letter continues.
The letter suggests the commission should make an interim report, calling for a compensation scheme for survivors sanctioned by the Government. Until this is done, it says, it will be difficult for solicitors to advise their clients on whether it was in their legal or personal interest to participate in the commission's work.
Ms Justice Laffoy said the letter deserved "very important consideration" by the commission, and this would take place soon.
She adjourned all concerns raised by survivors to a further public sitting, which she hoped would be held before the end of August.
She also granted legal representation to individuals and bodies by a solicitor and counsel of their choice. This was a reversal of the commission's earlier proposal to have a single team of barristers representing all survivors of abuse, which some representative groups had strongly criticised.