Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I welcome the comments made by the Minister in the immediate aftermath of the report's publication when he stated that nobody was above the law and appropriate investigations would take place with a view to criminal proceedings not only being issued but convictions being attained. In that context will the Minister outline to the House the difference between the current Garda investigation and the Garda investigation which took place following the broadcast of the televisions programme in 2002 entitled "Cardinal Sins"? The then Garda Commissioner appointed a 20-strong force to investigate matters at that time.

I put it to the Minister that perhaps the most important difference between the Murphy report and the previous Ryan and Ferns reports is that the fundamental basis of the Murphy report was not so much the sexual abuse but rather the cover-up and the manner in which the hierarchy was, in effect, given immunity by the Garda. What is the difference between this Garda investigation and the 2002 Garda investigation which really had no effect? The report indicates that the investigation in 2002 did not lead to any appreciable number of prosecutions.

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