Irish Catholic Bishops have agreed that their independent audit of how clerical child sex abuse allegations were handled by dioceses will be given all relevant information and documentation.
The information is to be provided regardless of the confidentiality aspect of the relationship between bishop and priest.
Between five and seven people - mainly lay people - are expected to be appointed as "auditors".
Among them may be at least one abuse victim or a representative of such victims.
The chairperson is expected to be a distinguished lay person, possibly a senior counsel. The audit is likely to take up to 15 months and its final report will be made public.
Most bishops agreed on these issues at their summer meeting in Maynooth last week, but some remain concerned over the confidentiality issue.
Details of what was agreed by the bishops will not be publicised until a joint press conference is held in Dublin next week, also involving representatives of the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) and the Irish Missionary Union (IMU).
It is understood the bishops did not feel free to finalise details of what was agreed in principle last week until members of both CORI and the IMU had been consulted and their input was taken on board. Last week the bishops' principal spokesman, Father Martin Clarke, explained: "As this is a 'whole Church' exercise being undertaken jointly by the Bishops' Conference, the Conference of Religious of Ireland and the Irish Missionary Union, the proposed arrangements are now being referred to CORI and IMU for consideration."
The audit is expected to dominate CORI's annual general meeting, which begins today and will continue until Thursday.
Mr Denis McCullagh SC, who was appointed by the trustees of St Patrick's College, Maynooth last week to investigate "recent media reports that complaints were made alleging sexual harassment of junior seminarians at the college in the early 1980s and that the complaints did not receive a proper response", does not expect his investigation to take long.
It was "a fairly succinct matter" involving a limited number of people, he said yesterday. It will also be Mr McCullagh's decision as to whether his final report is made public.
Meanwhile up to 160 delegates are expected to attend CORI's a.g.m., which is taking place in Rosslare, Co Wexford this week. One of the main items for discussion is the changing nature of ministry for priests, nuns, and brothers in the religious congregations at this time.
In a statement yesterday CORI's secretary general, Sister Elizabeth Maxwell, said: "Because religious, particularly sisters, have moved from large convents into local housing estates, people think they have disappeared.
"The reality is that they have moved from teaching and nursing institutions into a wide variety of pastoral situations which are not institution-based."
These include environmental projects in East Galway, Cork and Wicklow, with care of the earth the underlying value.
Outreach to refugees and asylum-seekers was another area of growth for ministry, while there were now many drug addiction centres set up and managed by religious.
