Presbyterian Church in Ireland Annual General Assembly 2026 to debate 'perception that NDAs are used to silence staff'

Every year elders and minister from over 500 congregations of Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) come together to discuss the direction of the church and a wide range of issues, with most of the public discussions taking place in public.

The biggest issue dominating the church at present is safeguarding.

Moderator Rev Trevor Gribben resigned in November, when an internal review found “serious and significant failings” in central safeguarding functions for children and vulnerable adults from 2009 to 2022. Police have said they have 101 referrals to investigate.

The Charity Commission also opened a statutory inquiry.

Critics of the church have also raised concerns in the same period about some employees being asked to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) with the church if they end up leaving employment in disputed circumstances.

The church has declined to say how this may or may not relate to safeguarding issues.

The General Assembly Annual Report contains a sub report from the Compromise Agreements Task Group - which contains all the most senior leaders in the church. It notes that NDAs often form a part of the Compromise Agreements (CAs_ that staff leaving in disputed circumstances may be asked to voluntarily sign.

It says such agreements are used to keep private;- settlement payment amounts, the terms of the agreement and the circumstances leading up to the employee leaving.

“Regardless of the facts, there appears to be a public perception that CAs are used by employers to silence their former staff and cover up wrongdoing," the report says.

And it says the controversial measures are generally only used "on the basis of legal and insurance advice".

The report noted the extensive use of NDAs in the Post Office 'Horizon' scandal and said this "is often quoted as demonstrating that CAs are used to cover up wrongdoing".

This was not true, it said, as NDAs imposed by the Post Office "did not override the statutory ‘Whistleblowing’ protections for the Postmasters”.

However the report added hat "unfortunately Post Masters were unaware of this".

The News Letter put it the church that the report raises several public-interest questions about NDAs, such as "what if allegations underlying an NDA were true?"

This paper also asked;-

1) To what extent are PCI's decisions to impose NDAs are driven by insurers rather than by the church leadership?

2) In the nine known NDA cases, how many of them involve safeguarding issues?

3) Does PCI regard reputational risk as a factor when considering settlements?

A church spokesman responded that the issues will be debated in public on Thursday and that it does not normally comment on issues due to come before the Assembly.

He added that the General Assembly will be asked to approve the Employee Compromise Policy, in Appendix 2, which states that NDAs will only be used “in limited circumstances".

In the last five years 650 people have left the church employment, but only nine have been asked to sign Compromise Agreements (which may contain NDAs), he added.