Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for accepting this important issue. I welcome the publication of the Garda Inspectorate's report Responding to Child Sexual Abuse, a report which was provided to the Government at the end of 2010. This report was initiated by the previous Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, and it was important it was done, as is highlighted by the serious issues which have come to light since publication of the report yesterday. The report shows that all has not been done well in terms of how agencies of State have dealt with child sexual abuse and with the reporting and handling of these cases over the years. We are well aware of this from the inquiries that have been held over recent years into the church and into how gardaí and the HSE handled the reporting of those crimes.

The Garda Inspectorate's report raises particular concerns. For example it showed delays in recording of reports of child sexual offences, which then resulted in intelligence gaps. It showed a failure to make timely entries in the PULSE system, exposing children to continuing risk. Basic record keeping was poor and as a result the official crime records did not capture up to 65% of sex crimes. The report also showed that in almost one-third of cases, details of investigations had been entered into the PULSE computer database, but had not been classified as criminal offences and were, therefore, missing from the overall crime figures. More worrying is the fact the report showed there were turf wars between the Garda and the HSE in terms of how reports were dealt with. It showed inadequate co-operation between the Garda and the HSE in the investigation of child sex abuse to ensure that investigations were done promptly. In a sample of cases in Dublin, the report showed that plans as to how complaints would be investigated between the Garda and the HSE had only been developed and put together in 1% of cases. This is unacceptable.

I want the Minister of State to outline here what has happened with regard to the recommendations made in the Garda Inspectorate's report since it was left on the Minister's desk well over a year ago. Many of the recommendations are straightforward and urgent. They need to be implemented in order to ensure that some of the mistakes of the past are not repeated. Will the Minister of State outline what has happened in terms of implementing those recommendations? Although the report was only published yesterday, the Government has had it for a long time. I would expect significant progress to have been made in that time in terms of dealing with many of the recommendations and problems highlighted in the report.

See this speech in context