Government plans:Plans announced by the Government a year ago to allow for the vetting of all adults who work with children or vulnerable adults have yet to be implemented, it has emerged.
Minister of State Brian Lenihan announced in September last year that anyone hoping to be a teacher or work in a school, a creche or a children's sports facility, or in the voluntary sector with children, would have to obtain Garda clearance.
However, in a statement to The Irish Times, the Department of Justice confirmed that the expansion had not taken place, but said the "phased expansion" would begin to take place later this year.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Mary Harney said yesterday the Government would need to examine carefully whether or not to introduce mandatory reporting of child sex abuse in the wake of the publication of the Ferns report .
She said that, while she always had "a very open mind about mandatory reporting", the Ferns report was against it for two reasons.
"It says that it might be more difficult for those that are abused to come forward if there is mandatory reporting and, secondly, it might be difficult for professional help to be given. But I have an open mind and I think the Government needs to examine carefully whether or not we should pursue the idea of mandatory reporting," she said.
"We certainly need a culture of mandatory reporting. Whether we need that backed by statute or not is another issue," she added.
Ms Harney's comments follow calls by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) for mandatory reporting following the publication of the Ferns report.
The same organisation has also criticised the Government's failure to extend the Garda vetting unit to all adults working with children a year ago.
Paul Gilligan of the ISPCC said delays in expanding its remit were placing children at risk. He said a range of additional child protection measures, such as a change to the Constitution recognising children's rights - as called for by the Ombudsman for Children - were also needed.
In a statement, the Department of Justice said additional staff had been recruited, were being trained and due to come on-stream in the coming weeks.
The Garda Central Vetting Unit, which is being decentralised to Thurles, Co Tipperary, next week, expects the phased expansion of vetting to all adults working with children and vulnerable adults to begin later this year.
Ms Harney, who was attending an Irish Nurses' Organisation conference yesterday, said the health system, the Government generally and State agencies needed to learn from the report.
They needed to learn that "you can never be too cautious when it comes to complaints of child sex abuse and children have to be believed and children have to be listened to".
Ms Harney continued: "And clearly we need new provisions in our criminal justice legislation to make it a criminal offence for anybody to protect a child abuser and that will be done by the Minister for Justice in legislation that is currently before the Oireachtas.
"I think we need to be sure that right around the country, not just in relation to the Catholic Church but everywhere where young people are vulnerable, that we have appropriate mechanisms in place to allow instances of abuse to be brought to the attention of the authorities."
The INO called for the introduction of a whistle-blowers' policy for the health service so that staff with genuine concerns about standards and practices could voice them without fear of retribution.