Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The report of the Garda Inspectorate was commissioned in 2009 by a former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Following its presentation to the then Minister in late 2010, it was not made public, allegedly owing to so-called legal constraints. Will the Minister advise the House as to the reason we had to wait for so long before the report was placed in the public domain? What legal constraints prevented its publication at the time? Does the Minister consider the report shocking? I find it shocking because it has thrown light on the fact that only slightly more than one third of the child sexual abuse cases reported to the Garda have found their way into the figures released by the Garda across its 112 districts. This finding calls into question all of the statistics on child sexual abuse across the State.

A question also arises in respect of the time factor involved in Garda investigation and address of cases that are reported. This must be a matter of concern because failure to address cases in which an offender is involved places not only the children involved at further risk but also places other children at risk.

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