The Ferns Inquiry interim report, which was supplied to the Department of Health and Children last Friday evening, contains no findings as to how the Catholic Church and State agencies handled allegations of clerical child sexual abuse in the mainly Co Wexford diocese.
The final report is expected by early September.
It is understood the interim report outlines the methodology being employed by the inquiry, the number of witnesses interviewed, and a chapter-by-chapter outline of the form its final report is likely to take.
One of those chapters will address the investigation set up by the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, in April 2002, following the resignation of the then bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey.
That investigation, chaired by Mr George Birmingham SC, was asked to determine the best form of inquiry into how allegations of clerical child sex abuse were handled in the diocese. On the basis of Mr Birmingham's report, the Ferns Inquiry was established and began hearings in Dublin last September. It is chaired by the retired Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice Frank Murphy.
The inquiry has already covered most of the ground addressed by Mr Birmingham in his investigation and much more besides, having interviewed more witnesses than had been expected. Many "new" people came forward following advertisements in the media.
Co-operation with the inquiry has been readily forthcoming where church and state figures are concerned, though it is believed both Dr Comiskey and Mgr Miceál Ledwith, former president of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, and formerly a priest of Ferns diocese, have yet to be interviewed.
