Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has rejected Opposition calls for an independent investigation into the systems failure in the Attorney General's office in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment on statutory rape, writes Marie O'Halloran.
Mr Ahern said that "while there was a communications issue, it had no effect on the outcome of the Supreme Court decision".
He said that a senior department of finance official would conduct a review of the implementation of existing procedures and the broader issue would be referred to an all-party committee.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said it was not good enough to have an official reviewing the issue and the Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte, said it was unacceptable.
But The Taoiseach said that in the wake of the Brendan Smyth affair in 1994 "it was good enough that three officials drew [a report] up. That it should be entirely different now is a political point to which I will not succumb."
Mr Ahern also announced the appointment of a rapporteur for the protection of children "who will report annually on standards in child protection legislation". The initiative is one of a number put in place including changes in the Attorney General's office, to ensure that the Government and senior State legal officers are fully informed in future ahead of major cases.
Mr Kenny criticised the Taoiseach's absence in New York during the Dáil debate on the statutory rape crisis and said it was a "serious lapse in judgment and a dereliction of duty". He told the House: "Mr A is back in jail where he belongs but the rest of them haven't gone away."
The investigation would have to look at how "the circumstances of the systems failure which occurred came about". There was a "critical need for an independent investigation into how this failure occurred. No amount of glossing over that fact will satisfy the people of this country." Mr Rabbitte said that nobody was questioning the professionalism of the legal counsel who contested the case for the State. "The issue is the chaos that ensued from the lack of foreknowledge on the part of the Government including the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General."
He said that "absolute chaos reigned in the House. A panic-stricken Government in crisis offered any solution that came to mind to get past the weekend." Mr Rabbitte pointed out that under existing Superior court rules the Attorney General is required to be informed of any constitutional challenge.
He said it was unacceptable to appoint a serving civil servant to establish "what went so seriously wrong in a case of this gravity". In 1994 the crisis referred to a single file while this case concerned tens of thousand s of children and Ministers were required to appear in public and give evident to a committee of inquiry chaired by a member of the Opposition. Mr Ahern said the 1994 crisis was serious enough that it led to a change of Government.
The Taoiseach insisted that "nobody is trying to duck anything. What happened last week was a shock to the system and appalling in every way". He said it was "human error" and "I have no interest in jumping all over a person who did not report it". Green Party leader Trevor Sargent expressed surprise that the President did not refer the legislation to the Council of State, given its rushed manner. The Leas Ceann Comhairle intervened and said the office of the President should not be referred to in the House. Mr Ahern said it was the "prerogative of the President to submit legislation to the Council of State as she has done and the Government accepts her decision".