The senior party in Government is intent on dealing with the crisis over sexual offences against children, writes Mark Brennock
A sequence of measures will be announced this week as the Government moves to show it is now taking the initiative to deal with the Supreme Court judgment that caused the biggest crisis in the Fianna Fáil/PD coalition in its nine-year history.
Today the Government will announce new procedures that the Attorney General is to implement in his office to ensure sensitive cases are drawn to his attention in future. A Department of Finance official will begin investigating what went wrong in the Attorney General's Office in the first place. An eminent legal figure will be chosen to conduct an annual audit of legislation and court decisions - at home and abroad - to report to Government on how they impact on child protection.
The Taoiseach will announce his plans for an all-party committee to examine the laws on sex crimes against minors to see if further changes are desirable. This will be announced to a Dáil which cancelled a week-long recess because of the crisis. And in yet another move to stress how seriously the Government is taking the situation, the Cabinet meeting due to take place tomorrow at Avondale, Co Wicklow, will be moved back to Government Buildings in Dublin.
There is a simple rule in crisis management: when there is a problem you admit it, describe in full its extent and possible consequences, and then announce a credible plan for what you intend to do about it. Attempts to deny or minimise the extent of the problem almost always make matters worse. Insisting that every step you took before and since the crisis erupted was just perfect, will cause you major damage.
Within Fianna Fáil, from Cabinet level to backbench level, there is now huge criticism of the way this crisis has been handled by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell. One key Fianna Fáil figure conceded yesterday that this was somewhat unfair, noting that the rest of the Government went along with his approach for a considerable time.
But in the handling of this crisis, Michael McDowell was the Government's and therefore Fianna Fáil's public face until Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan began representing the party to the media. McDowell's approach will be remembered for his dogged insistence that he was right, would be proven to be right, and would be seen to have acted with great competence, honesty and courage.
Fianna Fáil does humility rather better. Even Charlie McCreevy, after months of insisting he was right to appoint Hugh O'Flaherty to the European Investment Bank in 2000, finally made a public admission that he had made a mistake.
TDs around the State say the number of complaints from voters has never been higher. Governments are rarely permanently damaged by anything, but right now many Fianna Fáil backbenchers believe this crisis will cost them votes, and possibly seats.
This week the Taoiseach will lead the post-crisis attempt to restore order. This involves focusing attention firmly on what the Government plans to do in the future, so as to reduce the attention being paid to the dreadful mistakes of the past.
The idea is to portray the Government as being in charge, in stark contrast to the extraordinary chaos that reigned within it over the past fortnight. A well-flagged Supreme Court decision striking down the law on sex offences against children hit the Government like a bolt from the blue.
McDowell initially insisted there was "no gaping hole" in the law. And while he may have been technically right, the public was shocked when a convicted child rapist walked free from court a few days later.
His "no gaping hole" remark was designed to reassure people that there were still laws in existence on sexual offences against children. But coupled with his initial stated determination not to be rushed into legislation, it is now depicted as showing a deep lack of understanding of the public mood.
The Government's apparent relaxed approach contrasted starkly to a public mood of genuine concern and anger mixed with some elements of hysteria, all stirred up by the more sensational elements of the media. The Government lost control of the situation and has spent a fortnight trying to win it back.
First there was to be legislation in a few weeks, then in two weeks, then in one. Then McDowell had to abandon his ambitious plan to lower the age of consent as Fianna Fáil Ministers - and Fine Gael - said they weren't having it. Being seen as slow to deal with sex abusers was bad enough, without being portrayed as soft on teenage sex as well.
So as radio phone-in programmes suggested the children of the nation were at grave and immediate risk, the drafting of the legislation was speeded up and finally rushed through the Oireachtas last Friday, as the Supreme Court relieved the situation by ruling that a convicted child rapist released in the wake of its judgment of a fortnight ago should be jailed again.
The crisis may not be over yet. The Supreme Court has not yet given its detailed reasons for agreeing to put Mr A back in jail. If those reasons are very specific to Mr A's case - that he pleaded guilty and that he never sought to claim he believed his victim was above the age of consent - others convicted under the struck-down legislation could yet walk free. The Supreme Court's detailed judgment is not expected until at least Friday week, and any further applications for release from jail will therefore be heard after that.
Before there is a chance for that to happen, however, the Government plans to have taken this series of initiatives to ensure that a crisis in this area of law cannot occur again.
The Opposition is planning to make it as difficult as possible for the Government to walk away from the debacle of the last fortnight.
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte and Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said yesterday they wanted an independent inquiry into what went wrong, and in particular why the Attorney General did not know this case was going on.
They will seek to put the handling of the issue at the centre of political debate again today in the Dáil. But the Government will have a series of measures to announce, in an attempt to show the public that this time it has a thought-out plan.