The South Eastern Health Board sent a report of its investigation into a Wexford sex abuse case to Bishop Brendan Comiskey because it was "good professional practice" to do so, its chief executive said yesterday.
Mr John Cooney said, however, he had no record of any meeting between the board and Dr Comiskey about the case, which involved the abuse of 10 young girls by Father Jim Grennan in Monageer in 1988.
A former senior manager of the health board has claimed one of its senior officers was in direct contact with the bishop during the investigation into the Monageer case. He claims the contact was made without the knowledge of the investigating officer.
Mr Cooney, who retires today, told The Irish Times that the only board officer he was aware of who had been in contact with the diocese of Ferns was its former director of community care in Wexford, Dr Paddy Judge. Dr Judge, he said, had confronted the diocese about it.
As far as he was aware, he had not spoken to the bishop, but a representative of Dr Comiskey's. Dr Judge is now retired and could not be contacted yesterday.
Asked if any officer of the board had met Dr Comiskey about the issue, Mr Cooney said: "Certainly I've no record of any meeting with him".
A copy of the board's report on the matter had been sent to the bishop because "we felt it was good professional practice to inform the priest's superiors". At some point the bishop had written asking for another copy, and this was provided.
Mr Cooney denied a claim by the same former senior manager that a report drawn up by a senior board officer in the mid-1990s, after the Monageer case was revisited, had not been acted upon.
The only report he was aware of was one which had been sent to the Department of Health in 1996, following "certain allegations" about its handling of the Monageer case. The board had carried out a review at the time and was quite happy with the steps it had taken.
The board had acted immediately when informed of the allegations in 1988. It had had the 10 girls examined and come to the conclusion that they had been abused. It had then notified the Garda and the diocese of Ferns.
On a visit to Kilkenny yesterday the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said a review of the file showed the board had acted promptly in the case. Mr Cooney said it would be publishing the entire file on Monageer, with the exception of material identifying individuals, in the next week or two.
The report sent to the Department in 1996 was written by the programme manager at the time with responsibility for childcare, Mr Martin Hynes, who is now chief executive of the Blood Transfusion Service Board. He said yesterday he had written a number of reports on childcare issues and these were all with the health board.
