Dolores Creighton of Artane, north Dublin, last month lost her claim at the Employment Appeals Tribunal that she had been forced to quit her job at the charity's Railway Street premises after unearthing a fraud in 1999 and bringing child abuse concerns to the society's attention. It is understood Creighton will appeal the tribunal's finding.

"The society continues to reject all claims made against it and its staff and volunteers by Dolores Creighton and will continue to vigorously respond to those claims and to defend its reputation through its legal advisers when invited to do so by the Dublin Circuit Court, " the society told the Sunday Tribune this weekend.

Creighton told the tribunal that she found "discrepancies in the chequebook" concerning wages paid to staff who were employed through Fas. She said an employee of the society had told her that "as employers, they had f***** up badly".

Creighton also said she was approached by another St Vincent De Paul employee who was "in a dreadful rage" saying he had had a row with another employee "about buried child abuse files".

Creighton said she brought the abuse allegations to the attention of a senior Vincent de Paul member whose only response was that he "did not want a can of worms opened". Creighton said she experienced "panic attacks" and was still attending a psychiatrist.

The tribunal hearing was held in camera at the request of the St Vincent de Paul society. A senior Vincent de Paul member, Ms CB, told the tribunal that "a problem was discovered in the financial area which Fas was made aware of", and all monies owed to the Revenue were paid off in 2002.

The society's president, Mr B O'R, said he could not recall references to child abuse but was "concerned" about the allegations.