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	Abuse Report Faces Delays after Referral to High Court By Tom Brady Irish Independent August 1, 2009 http://www.independent.ie/national-news/abuse-report-faces-delays-after-referral-to-high-court-1848881.html Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has sought advice from the High Court on whether he should publish the report on child sex abuse in the Dublin archdiocese. The minister received the report last month and immediately sought the views of Attorney General Paul Gallagher on its publication. Mr Gallagher has advised that publication might prejudice some current criminal proceedings and recommended that the minister seek directions from the High Court. Mr Ahern said last night he had initiated the appropriate legal proceedings before the court. "When the report was published, I indicated I was anxious that the matters dealt with in the report be put in the public domain as quickly as possible but that I was concerned that nothing should be done which would harm the prospects of the perpetrators of these horrific acts of depravity against children being brought to the justice they deserve. "The legal advice available to me as to how I must proceed is clear and the necessary steps are now being taken with all possible speed," Mr Ahern added. Meanwhile, gardai are continuing their investigations into almost 100 fresh complaints against clerical child abusers. The new lines of inquiry resulted from the setting up of a special telephone number by the garda authorities in the wake of the publication of the Ryan report into child abuse in May. The dedicated contact line was established for anyone who wanted to provide information arising out of the findings, and the special garda team, led by Assistant Commissioner Derek Byrne, has received about 140 calls. Criminal Gardai will prepare a file on each individual investigation for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who will determine if criminal charges should be brought against the alleged abuser. They hope to have sent files to the DPP on a substantial percentage of their inquiries by the late autumn. Some of the clerics named in allegations received on the "hotline" are now dead. Officers said they were very conscious of the historic nature of many of the allegations and were anxious to complete their inquiries as quickly as possible. The inquiries are being headed by detectives from the national bureau of criminal investigation and gardai from the Dublin metropolitan region.
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