Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

That legislation is hugely robust and is before a committee of the Houses at present. In addition, because there has been this ambiguity about what happens where things are not reported, whether they can be reported, or whether there is some kind of a parallel system of justice that operates somewhere under some other system of law, whether it is called canon law or whatever, and that somehow that can be dealt with separately, we have made it very clear in the legislation which the Minister for Justice and Equality has brought forward that the withholding of information about sex abuse or about the abuse of children will not be acceptable and will itself be an offence. Let there be absolutely no doubt about where the Government stands, where the Taoiseach stands and where every member of the Government stands in regard to this horrific abuse.

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