There had been a very poor response to the request for submissions from the public in regard to the preparation of a White Paper on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, the Minister of State with responsibility for children told the House.
Mr Frank Fahey said the December 1st deadline would not be adhered to rigidly.
"We would be most anxious to get additional submissions on this very complex question which we want to deal with." Mr Fahey made his comments following the passage of the Reporting of Child Abuse Bill.
Earlier, Mr Joe O'Toole (Ind) said they were all aware of the horrific and harrowing cases of child sexual abuse reported in the newspapers.
"I have been raising the issue of mandatory reporting for the past two years and we still do not know which direction the Government is going with this though various views have been put forward.
"It is very important that we know the Government's thinking in this regard."
