Vol. 491 No. 1
16 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he has received the report of the inquiry into alleged sexual abuse in swimming; if he will publish the report in full; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11458/98]
I have not yet received the report of the Murphy Inquiry into matters relating to child sexual abuse in swimming. An interim injunction has been obtained, the effect of which is preventing Dr Murphy temporarily from finalising his report. Dr. Murphy is seeking to have the injunction set aside as soon as possible and must await the outcome of these proceedings before he can finalise his report.
In relation to the publication of the report, I reiterate what I have already stated in the House that, when I have received Dr. Murphy's final report and given it initial consideration, I intend to make its findings public. However, a decision on publication of the full contents of his report cannot be made until it is received and all the implications of publication have been considered.
On 24 March, in response to a Dáil question raised by me, the Minister told us that the report would be available by the end of that month. It is now 13 May and we still do not have the report. The Minister has written confirming that he will publish the report but has not decided whether it will be published in full. If the report of the inquiry is not published in full it will be meaningless to the victims of the alleged abuse. In view of the long delays, will the Minister now lift the sanctions against our top athletes in the Irish Amateur Swimming Association, who are the only people currently penalised? These athletes are the innocent victims of the Minister's hamfisted sanctions. They are preparing for world class events and facing an uncertain future going into the summer months.
The answer to the latter part of the Deputy's question is no. The matter is dealt with in Question No. 17.
The Murphy report was to have been published at the end of March. The Deputy will recall that at that time more people wanted to come forward to give evidence. The Deputy will agree that as many people as possible should be included in the report. There are now from 1,300 to 1,400 in this report, and Dr. Murphy has been working diligently to get it published. However, last Friday he was issued with an injunction to prevent him from completing the report and, as I was named as a co-respondent in the case, I cannot publish it either. When the report comes forward for publication I intend to publish as much of it as possible, taking into account its sensitivity, the sensitivities of the victims and the people involved. I intend to ensure that the report is seen by the victims, the IASA and the relevant people concerned. Taking all that into consideration, the report will be made public.
The Minister should not have made promises he could not keep or given commitments he could not fulfil. What timescale does the Minister now envisage for dealing with the legal injunction? Is the legal injunction against the completion of the report or against its publication? Finally I plead with the Minister not to penalise our athletes. They are the only people penalised by hamfisted sanctions against an association which came before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism and Sport and Recreation and set out in detail what action they were taking to deal with the issue. I ask the Minister to lift those sanctions.
The injunction is against the completion of the report. The report is practically complete but an injunction was issued at a late stage and, therefore, there is nothing I can do to expedite it. The witnesses coming forward were dealt with long ago and it was a matter of tightening up the report and of Dr. Murphy liaising with the people involved to ensure that the report was complete and had no flaws. I can do nothing, given the injunction. I am as anxious as the Deputy to see the report, but the injunction is against completion of the report and against giving it to me to publish. That in itself signals the type of report Dr. Murphy has undertaken. We are contesting the injunction. The case is for hearing next Monday but we might even have it contested before that.
I considered at the outset that the approach being taken by the Minister in relation to this inquiry was fatally flawed because of the terms of reference. The chickens are coming home to roost in no uncertain manner now. Last week we were told by the Taoiseach in the Dáil that the injunction hearing would take place last Monday. It was postponed for a further week.
Like myself, the Deputy does not understand the court system.
Is the Minister determined to publish the report when he gets over the legal problem?
The Taoiseach rightly told the Deputy last week that the initial injunction was brought by a particular organisation. The judge ruled that the organisation had grounds for having the case reviewed. Therefore, the case is up for review and the date set was the earliest possible date, namely, the following Monday. That is how the court system works. Regarding the publication of the report, I have already informed the Deputy that it is my intention to publish it.
The time for Priority Questions has expired. We must, therefore, take Questions Nos. 17 and 18 in ordinary time.
