The head of the Christian Brothers has said that contrary to recent commentary, the focus of the congregation remains "resolutely on settling claims in a timely manner without the stress and delays of litigation".
In a statement, Br David Gibson said that in addition to contributions to Redress and Statutory Funds, the congregation had provided compensation of over €40 million including legal fees to over 200 claimants, and provided counselling for the survivors of abuse.
Br Gibson said that the typical approach of the congregation was to acknowledge a claim with an offer of mediation, and he confirmed that at present, a majority of notified claims are settled within 12 months "without the stress of a court appearance".
In the statement, he said claimants were listened to in a non-adversarial setting, and their claims were settled in a timely manner.
"The vast majority of claimants and their legal representatives are opting for non-adversarial resolution of claims," he said.
He added that the experience of the congregation was that protracted litigation had very little, if any, benefit to claimants.
Br Gibson noted that compensation in protracted litigation was not materially different to what they would have received via early settlement; that legal fees in protracted litigation are typically four times the compensation received by claimants.
However, he said some are significantly higher and that in one recent case the claim for legal fees by a law firm was almost 19 times the compensation paid to the claimant.
The head of the congregation said that "regrettably protracted litigation diverts and depletes resources available for future claims and serves only to enrich the legal firms focusing on protracted litigation".
The primary focus of the Christian Brothers, according to the statement, "remains on ensuring just, timely and appropriate settlements for survivors without the stress of litigation, and we invite any past-pupil of our schools who may have experienced sexual abuse to make contact with a view to timely resolution".
The statement follows the publication of the names of over 300 former Christian Brothers in a national newspaper yesterday, following an order from the High Court.
Last week, the High Court ordered that 341 former members of the congregation be served with a summons by way of a newspaper advertisement, as part of a claim for damages for child sexual assault and rape, although it is not being alleged that the men whose names have been published had anything to do with the crimes.
The High Court hoped they will now come forward in relation to a case in which a man is seeking damages for the sexual and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of Liam Coughlan, a former Christian Brother, at CBS primary school on Stephen Street in Kilkenny in the 1970s.
Liam Coughlan of Pine Grove, Tramore, Co Waterford was jailed in 2023 for sexually assaulting numerous boys at the school during the 1970s, including the man at the centre of the case.
The decision by Judge Mary Rose Gearty to publish the summons was as a result of the congregation's decision not to provide a nominee for the purposes of litigation in the case.
As an unincorporated body, the Christian Brothers cannot be sued if it does not provide a 'nominee'.
In circumstances where no member of an unincorporated body puts themself forward to represent a body as a whole in litigation, all of the relevant members may be pursued.
Philip Treacy, of Coleman Legal, who is representing the claimant, described yesterday's publication as a significant, unprecedented and a necessary step in circumstances where no member of the Christian Brothers organisation has confirmed that it will represent the congregation.
"The big difficulty is in particular with those that are no longer members, there's very little information as to their whereabouts. So the reason why the judge has made this decision is because they said (Christian Brothers) they have little to no information and certainly they don't have the addresses that will enable us to find these former members and serve them with proceedings."
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland yesterday, Mr Treacy described the handling of the situation by the Christian Brothers as shocking, appalling, totally unnecessary and completely avoidable.
He said there was nothing in law preventing any member of an unincorporated body when faced with litigation from acting as nominee and that the congregation was "still perfectly entitled to fully defend the case" and that it was "in no way prejudicial".