Abuse legislation due next year

Legislation to introduce mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse allegations should be ready for the next Dáil term, the Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald has said.

Ms Fitzgerald said a memorandum on the legislation had been agreed by the Government and that she hoped the heads of a bill would progress to committee stage next year.

"We will make it obligatory to report," she told RTÉ Morning Ireland. "That will apply to voluntary and statutory bodies. It will apply to faith groups and it will be obligatory to report child safety concerns."

Speaking following the publication of reports on child protection practice in six dioceses dating back to 1975, Ms Fitzgerald said there was some evidence that child protection measures were improving in the Catholic Church.

The reports found that successive bishops made significant errors of judgment in the diocese of Raphoe when responding to child abuse allegations but that the diocese of Kilmore had become "a model of best practice".

She said the reports raised a mixture of sadness – because children had been abused by people they trusted – and hope, as bishops had changed practices, published detailed reports and in some cases apologised.

Ms Fitzgerald said she would wait for the arrival of reports from the Health Service Executive on current child protection practice before deciding if further statutory inquiries into individual dioceses were necessary. She refused to rule out an inquiry into practices in Raphoe.

"I wouldn't rule it out because there are very disturbing information from all of the dioceses but there is also evidence of hugely improved practice so that current child protection is meeting the standards of the church and indeed of the State and that is very important."

She said she expected to have a “full picture” of protection measures in the dioceses in the new year but also cautioned that the expense of statutory inquiries would be a consideration.