A judicial inquiry with powers similar to the Flood and Moriarty tribunals is to be established by the Government to investigate child abuse in State institutions and religious-run primary and secondary schools since the 1940s.
The Irish Times has learned that legislation to give quasi-judicial powers to the Commission on Child Abuse will be published early next month. The commission, headed by Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, will be given powers similar to a court to allow it to subpoena witnesses and documents and to take evidence under oath.
This judicial inquiry will be provided for under the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000, to be published by the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, who is chairman of the cabinet sub-committee on child abuse. Unlike the beef, McCracken, Moriarty and Flood tribunals of the last decade, it will not be set up under the Tribunals of Evidence Act.
The Act will be given priority status and is expected to be law by March. The commission will start its work immediately the Act is enacted and hearings will take place in an office in St Stephen's Green House in Dublin.
The legislation is expected to provide for the commission to sit in private where a witness is ma king allegations against an individual. This is likely to anger survivors of sexual and physical abuse who are anxious to have their stories heard in the open.
Department of Education sources said last night this provision was being considered for legal reasons and to be fair to the individuals against whom allegations may be made.
The inquiry will have powers similar to the two sitting tribunals. Like the tribunals, Ms Justice Laffoy will publish a comprehensive report with recommendations at the end of the hearings, which may take up to two years.
Government sources said last night the inquiry would not run up legal bills of millions of pounds, as with the Flood and Moriarty tribunals.
"The legislation specifically provides for the hearings to be conducted in a non-adversarial way. It will make it clear that the hearings must be held in an informal setting and that victims must be dealt with in a sympathetic manner. We do not want people put through the hoops. That is not the purpose of the commission," a source said.
"People will have the right to legal representation," the source added, "particularly somebody subpoenaed and against whom serious allegations are made, but making a legal circus out of this will be seriously discouraged."
The Department of Education expects that the hearings could last up to two years. Hundreds of victims are expected to tell the inquiry of the abuses they suffered. The commission was appointed last May to allow victims of childhood abuse in State institutions or in primary and secondary schools run by religious orders from the 1940s to have their experiences heard officially.
The legislation putting the commission inquiry on a statutory footing is being finalised by the parliamentary draftsman in the Attorney General's office, the Department of Education and the commission.
A researcher is working full-time reviewing the files on industrial and reformatory schools held by the Department of Education in Athlone. He has to date presented three reports on his findings to the Minister for Education and the commission.
The Irish Times has been refused access to the reports following a request under the Freedom of Information Act on the basis that the Government has decided to give the commission powers similar to a court and the public release of information may seriously prejudice its work.
The reports of the researcher are expected to make a significant contribution to the commission's efforts to establish what occurred in the institutions and the extent to which the authorities knew or should have known what was occurring.