Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I defer only to the people of Ireland by whose grace I hold public office. I reiterate that in our quest for justice, no institution at home or abroad, no church or state can shirk their undoubted responsibilities in this area. The commission dealt with this issue in two paragraphs of a 720 page report. Without in any way underestimating its significance, I hope Senators can agree that an excessive concentration on this issue carries with it the real danger of distracting from the far more profound issues which this report poses so starkly for the church.

Following a meeting between the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs and church leaders in late January 2009, it was agreed there would be a renewed engagement in developing a revised audit questionnaire to ensure the HSE, as the statutorily responsible body, is made fully aware of all cases of clerical child sex abuse known to the church, including the whereabouts of alleged perpetrators. A detailed questionnaire issued to each diocese and completed replies have been received by the HSE from the head of each diocese. The audit, as currently designed, will be finalised by 22 December in respect of the dioceses. It is hoped that a similar audit of religious orders may also be completed by that date. A number of dioceses have asked to resubmit their questionnaire responses and these requests have been assented to. This will of necessity entail a delay in the process but with the expectation that it will lead to improved outcomes. The returns have been submitted and child care managers who have undertaken the task of engaging with the dioceses are finalising their work. This involves face-to-face interviews with each bishop.

The newly appointed assistant national director of the HSE with responsibility for children and family services was commended by the commission of investigation for the manner in which he carried out his previous role as director of child protection in the archdiocese of Dublin. He has suggested that to verify the data provided, additional information will be required from the HSE in respect of each diocese. He has recommended that in addition to the information already supplied by the dioceses, the HSE's child care managers should request from the relevant diocesan bishops and provincials of each religious order the names of the complainant and the person against whom the complaint was made in respect of each allegation referred to in the audit return, the location where the matter was reported to the HSE and the Garda Síochána and the date the report was made. The child care managers will arrange for each internal HSE file to be checked to ensure the matter has been dealt with appropriately by the State and the diocese in question. A member of the national children and family social services team in the HSE will then liaise with the Garda Síochána to ensure receipt of all the allegations as referred to in the audit. According to the assistant national director, the collation of this additional information will allow the HSE to submit a more detailed and comprehensive report to the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs. The Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, supports this approach. The HSE will now write to each bishop requesting the additional information.

The exchange of soft information, that is, information which is available to authorities but where the person to whom the information relates has not been charged or convicted of a criminal offence, is a highly important aspect of child protection and a crucial step in improving our capability in tackling sexual abuse. The office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs, in co-operation with my Department, has commenced the process of preparing the heads of a Bill in respect of the use of soft information and is consulting other Departments, the Garda Síochána and the HSE regarding these draft heads. The findings of the commission's report with regard to the collection and sharing of information will be fully taken into account in this process. The proposed legislation will also have regard to the constitutional rights of persons, including the right to equality before the law, the right to a good name, the right to privacy and the right to earn a livelihood. It will also address the right to fair procedures and have regard to the European Convention on Human Rights.

In addition to this legislation, a revised edition of the Children First guidelines is to be published shortly and the guidelines will be promulgated throughout the public service. The office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs is committed to the preparation of legislation to ensure State employees and staff from key agencies in receipt of Exchequer funding and who are working with children will have a duty to comply with the Children First guidelines.

In responding to the recommendations contained in the Ryan report, the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs published an implementation plan last July which included 99 specific action points to improve the delivery of children's services. The plan is ambitious but represents an honest assessment of the improvements required. Two critical commitments in the implementation plan include the filling of 270 social work posts within the HSE's child protection service and the drafting by December 2010 of the legislation to provide that all staff employed by the State and staff employed in agencies in receipt of funding from the Exchequer will have a duty to comply with the Children First national guidelines.

The commission's report expresses concern about the statutory powers of the Health Service Executive to deal with child sexual abuse by non-family members. The office of the Minister of State will consult further with the Office of the Attorney General to seek clarity in this regard. However, in the wake of the publication of the Ferns Report in 2005, legal advice was sought from the Attorney General regarding the powers of health boards, or the HSE as it now is, to investigate and deal with instances of child abuse perpetrated outside the family. The Attorney General was not of the view that the HSE's powers under section 3 of the Child Care Act 1991 are limited to cases of intra-family abuse. Under this section, the HSE has powers "to promote the welfare of children ... who are not receiving adequate care and protection". The executive stated it responds to all allegations of child sex abuse regardless of the circumstances of the allegation. However, the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs will consult further with the Attorney General's office on this issue in the light of both the comments by the commission and the recommendation of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children to introduce legislation on the use of soft information.

The Government earlier this year requested the commission of investigation to extend its work to deal with the Catholic diocese of Cloyne because of concerns which had arisen there. The Government believes the work of the commission regarding the archdiocese of Dublin and its forthcoming report on the diocese of Cloyne will serve the primary purpose of establishing what happened in order that lessons can be learned.

While there has been a sea change in recent years in the way this issue is dealt with, there are no grounds for complacency. It is the duty of Government to ensure all institutions in the State are subject to the law of the State without exception and, above all, to the laws which protect children. The Government will do whatever is necessary to ensure the old ways of responding to allegations and evidence of child sexual abuse will never return and the ways in which we handle them will be continually updated in the light of developing best practice.

It is correct that in this debate I have concentrated on the State's response in this area but the primary focus of the report is on the failings of the church authorities. No Government in a democracy can or should prescribe how a church should be run but we can ensure that all institutions, including the church, are subject to the laws of the State. During the debate I am sure Senators will stand firm in their determination that this must be the case.