Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Children Minister Frances Fitzgerald today held a press conference at Government Buildings after the publication of the Commission of Investigation Report into the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne. On the publication of the report, the Ministers said:
We want to acknowledge, first of all, that this report has been possible only because of the willingness of victims to tell their harrowing stories to the Commission. We fully accept the Commission’s conclusion that no action can totally alleviate the anger and hurt suffered by the victims and share the hope that the publication of this report may, in some measure, assuage the hurt and anger justifiably felt by them.
Commenting on the findings in relation to the Church, the Ministers said:
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this report is that it is not dealing with terrible wrongs committed in the distant past; instead it examines how the Diocese of Cloyne dealt with complaints made from 1996, the year in which the Catholic Church put in place detailed procedures for dealing with child sexual abuse. The report finds that, contrary to repeated assertions on its part, the Diocese of Cloyne did not implement the procedures set out in the Church protocols for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse; the greatest failure by the diocese was its failure to report all complaints to the Gardaí; no complaint (except for one complaint in 1996) was reported to the health authorities until 2008; the response of the diocese to complaints and allegations of clerical sexual abuse was inadequate and inappropriate.
On the findings in relation to State Agencies, the Ministers said:
While the Commission considers that most Gardaí who were involved in investigating the complaints outlined in the report carried out their tasks well and did so while treating the complainants with compassion and dignity, the Commission are very concerned about the approach adopted by Gardaí in three cases.
Despite the Commission’s conclusion that the response of the Gardaí was generally adequate and appropriate, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence has discussed the Commission’s findings with the Garda Commissioner who shares his concern at some of the findings of the report in relation to the Garda handling of a small number of cases.
The Commission concludes that the response of the health authorities was adequate and appropriate, given the information available to them and what are referred to as their limited powers. However, the Commission raise issues about the powers available in relation to the extra-familial abuse of children. It identifies the problems with the handling of so-called soft information in the absence of legislation.
On the appropriate response to the report, the Ministers said:
It is, of course, primarily a matter for the Church to answer a number of the criticisms made in the report. The Government fully recognises the separation between Church and State. But it is incumbent on the Government to make sure that the safety of children is not put at risk by the behaviour of any organisation, especially organisations which, because of the role they fulfil, have access to children. That obligation is all the greater where an organisation has a history of abuse by some of its members and where there has been a failure by many in authority to address it effectively.
The Ministers also spoke of pursuing the perpetrators:
We cannot lose sight of the fact that evil men carried out these acts of abuse and that there can be no greater priority than bringing them to justice.When the report was received it was referred to the Garda Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Garda Commissioner has appointed an Assistant Commissioner to examine the report to see whether, in addition to action already taken, any further action can be taken against the abusers referred to in it.
The Gardaí are also setting up a special telephone line which victims of this type of abuse, or anyone who has information about it, can contact.
The Ministers also announced the publication of a new Bill to make witholding information an offence:
The failure to report cases of child sexual abuse to the Gardaí is the central difficulty identified in the report. The State, for its part, is determined to have legislation in place which ensures that such failure to cooperate in the future will have consequences.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence is today publishing the Heads of the Criminal Justice (Withholding Information on Crimes Against Children and Intellectually Disabled Persons) Bill. This will make it an offence to withhold information relating to the commission of a serious offence against a person who is under the age of 18 or an intellectually disabled person.
The Ministers also announced that Minister Fitzgerald will publish revised Children First Guidance this week:
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will later this week publish revised Children First Guidance designed to strengthen current arrangements for child protection.
It is important that every possible step is taken to ensure that there is full compliance with Children First. In addition to the proposals to make compliance a statutory obligation, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will be overseeing an implementation framework which will set out the responsibilities of each Government Department and sector working with children.
On Garda investigations, the Ministers said:
In the light of the report's identification of shortcomings in how some members of An Garda Síochána dealt with cases examined in the report, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, having consulted the Garda Commissioner, is asking the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to examine the report and consider whether any further action is warranted on its part in respect of its contents.Following publication of the Dublin Archdiocese report, the Garda Síochána Inspectorate was requested to carry out a comprehensive review of Garda arrangements for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse. While that work has been completed, it has been agreed with the Chief Inspector, Kathleen O’Toole, that prior to publication of their report, they would be given a chance to review it in the light of the findings in the Cloyne report. This review is expected to take only a matter of weeks.
The Ministers also spoke of support for victims:
Publication of a report of this kind inevitably evokes painful memories for those who have suffered dreadful abuse of this kind. This, in turn, gives rise to a need for additional counselling services. The HSE, at our request, has put in place a dedicated helpline to deal with calls for such services. We would also like to pay tribute to the work of organisations in the voluntary sector which are assisting victims at this difficult time.
Read the full statement from the Ministers here.
Read Minister Fitzgerald's full speech from the press conference here.
Read Minister Shatter's full speech from the press conference here.