Irish Times
July 13, 2011
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0713/breaking63.html
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| Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald and Minister for Justice Alan Shatter attend a press conference following the publication of the Commission of Investigation Report into the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne. Photo: Matt Kavanagh/The Irish Times |
Minster for Justice Alan Shatter said today he plans to introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence not to report the sexual abuse of a child or vulnerable adult.
Speaking in the wake of the publication of the Cloyne report, Mr Shatter also expressed the State's "sorrow and profound apology" for any failings on its part in relation to the revelations of the report.
Mr Shatter published legislative proposals for a Criminal Justice Bill which will make the withholding of information relating to the abuse of children and vulnerable adults an offence.
The Minister said that there would be no "legal grey areas" when it came to the implementation of this legislation, adding that the laws would also apply to the likes of doctors and priests, even in the case of the latter where this information is revealed in the confessional.
Mr Shatter said the drafting of the new Bill, which the Government has approved as a matter of priority, was at an advanced stage. The legislation will also include safeguarding provisions to ensure that the person who is the victim of the offence or any person under 18 or who is a vulnerable adult cannot be prosecuted with the offence of withholding information.
He said that the Government aimed to enact the Bill this autumn.
In a statement following the publication of the long-awaited report into the handling by the Catholic Church of allegations of clerical sex abuse in Cloyne, the Minister strongly criticised the actions of the church in the diocese.
He said it was "truly scandalous that people who presented a public face of concern continued to maintain a private agenda of concealment and evasion" by failing to operate detail guidelines of how dioceses should handle cases of the sexual abuse of children.
He said the failings of church authorities in the diocese to report one single instance of abuse to the health authorities in the time period covered by the report, between 1996 and 2008.
He was strongly critical of the Vatican, which he said had been "entirely unhelpful" in its stance that the guidelines were "merely a study document". Mr Shatter said Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore would raise this issue in discussions with the papal nuncio to Ireland.
Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said the "most horrifying aspect" of the report was that it is not a catalogue of failure from a different era.
"This is not about an Ireland 50 years ago. This is about Ireland now," she said. "We now know that, up until three years ago the Catholic Church in the diocese of Cloyne represented a danger to children. We cannot say with certainty that the same is not true in other diocese around the country."
She noted that, between 1996 and 2008, nine out of 15 complaints made in respect of the Cloyne diocese which should have been reported to gardaí were not.
She reiterated the commission's find that, in its meetings with high-level church officials "the sole concern was the protection of the institution not he well being of children". She added that the Vatican was "singularly unhelpful" in its stance.
She announced that she had received approval for legislation to require statutory compliance with the Children First guidelines for the protection of children on a statutory basis, adding that she would publish a new guidance document on Friday.
"The legislation will require all organisations and children working with children to share information with the statutory authorities where such information relates to child welfare or protection concerns," she said, adding that failure to comply would result in jail sentences, fines, the prohibition of working with children and mandatory external inspections.
"The new legislation being brought about by this Government means that anyone who stands by will stand trial," she added.
She said the remit of the Health Information and Quality Authority would be extended to include oversight of the HSE's child protection services, including Children First, and inspections would begin in early 2012.
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