Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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20. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the progress that has been made in establishing a cross-Border commission of investigation into alleged sexual abuse within the provisional movement in Ireland and Northern Ireland; the engagement she had with her Northern counterpart on this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1403/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It is worth recalling that the Deputy's Question arises in the context of recent allegations of the rape and sexual abuse of a young woman in Northern Ireland, and her subsequent mistreatment at the hands of members of Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA. I have met with the woman in question and I should say I admire her bravery in telling her story publicly. It is a pity that those who have questions to answer in relation to her mistreatment could not find it in themselves to be as forthright and forthcoming.

I have discussed this matter with the Northern Ireland Justice Minister, David Ford, on a number of occasions, most recently when we attended the Plenary Meeting of the North South Ministerial Council in Armagh in December last. This provided us with an opportunity to discuss further the issues arising in respect of the allegations of sexual abuse committed by republican paramilitaries that have come to light in recent months.

The Deputy will appreciate that An Garda Síochána is investigating information in this regard which it received towards the end of last year and these investigations are ongoing. Inevitably, these will take some time to complete. There are also specific, independent review and inquiry processes underway in Northern Ireland by the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Police Ombudsman. It is essential to allow the relevant authorities – the child protection and the police services and others – North and South to carry out their ongoing work in this regard unimpeded. It is important also to continue to encourage people with any relevant information to come forward to the authorities.

Given the strong public concern about potentially ‘hidden’ child abusers in our communities, and given also the concerns of victims of abuse, I will continue to address with Minister Ford the need and potential for an additional inquiry or inquiries. We will consider any issues which emerge from the current and ongoing reviews and inquiries, and we will keep in close contact to review progress with these. I will meet with Minister Ford again in the near future and we will have an opportunity to review these issues. We have tasked officials in the two Justice Departments to examine, in tandem with the various investigations that are under way, legal and practical issues that might arise relevant to the issue of the establishment of forms of inquiry, and they will report on this to me and Minister Ford.

Of course, it is in the nature of it, that the establishment of an inquiry or parallel inquiry processes inevitably raises complex legal and other practical issues, and these complexities will have to be examined closely in order to ensure that where any such processes are put in place they would not simply become bogged down or derailed by legal complexity.

I would add that there is a range of support services for victims of sexual abuse available in both jurisdictions. Minister Ford and I will keep this under review and we will continue to work closely together in the context of the forthcoming implementation of the EU Victims’ Directive.