Vol. 459 No. 8
10 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Justice whether a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions following an 11 month Garda investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of children by five men in Trudder House over a 19 year period; if no such file has been sent, the reason therefor; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18943/95]
35 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice whether the Garda investigation into Trudder House has been completed in view of the "Prime Time" television programme, other press coverage and the report that the Garda have completed an investigation with the help of Scotland Yard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18913/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 35 together.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that an investigation file in this matter was forwarded by the Garda on 4 December, 1995, to the Director of Public Prosecutions whose directions are now awaited.
I welcome the fact that a file has at last been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Would the Minister agree that we will now encounter a feature which has become common to all such cases involving child abuse which took place over ten years ago, that is, the issue of lapse of time? We have had a litany of pathetic cases of people who were abused as children and, years later, when they came to disclose it as adults, prosecutions were blocked because of the notion that a lapse of time precludes a successful prosecution. In the light of such a litany of cases where a decision not to prosecute was taken, will the Minister consider whether lapse of time should any longer be a bar to prosecutions, particularly in child abuse cases?
This is a question about Trudder House, not about the general policy of the DPP. I am constrained in giving much information about this case because the file has gone to the DPP. The file was forwarded to the DPP following an 11-month Garda investigation into allegations received that children at Trudder House, Newtownmountkennedy, County Wicklow had been sexually abused by five male staff over a 19 year period from 1975 to 1994. His directions are now awaited. As part of the investigation, gardaí travelled to the United Kingdom and, with the assistance of Scotland Yard, interviewed former residents of Trudder House now residing in the UK. Given that prosecutions may be instituted, I cannot say any more about the investigation.
I share Deputy O'Donnell's concern that people are only now finding the courage and the wherewithal to come forward and report abuses that happened many years ago. These things happened at a time when we all thought Ireland was the land of saints and scholars and nothing like this happened behind our closed doors. Sadly, it did. There were probably very enlightened people at that time who said it was happening, but they were not listened to. The question of lapse of time is an issue. However, I would not anticipate the decision of the DPP on any case. I am sure the DPP takes lapse of time into consideration when making his decision. He has already said publicly that there is not a policy decision that just because something happened 20 years ago a prosecution cannot be instituted. All the evidence is put before the DPP, and he must make his decision based on the range of evidence. What is being highighted is that in some instances it has been the lapse of time that has prevented a prosecution, but there is no policy decision. I am not free to comment on what will happen in this case.
I welcome the Minister's comments. I am delighted the file has been referred to the DPP. I also welcome the Minister's statement on policy issues in the DPP's office. People are horrified that children in care over a long period in different homes have been subjected to sexual abuse. What is important now is to ensure there is intervention to stop this happening. In that regard, is the Minister satisfied the new guidelines given to the Garda
Síochána and health board workers are working effectively? Will she give a commitment to the House that there will be joint training of gardaí and health board staff, particularly social workers, to ensure those new guidelines published this year on procedures for reporting child sexual abuse are being implemented properly? This is one of the most effective ways of ensuring that from now on children in residential care are protected and cases are reported quickly and action taken if anything is suspected.
The new guidelines were issued in April because it was found that the 1987 guidelines did not specify when or even if the Garda Síochána should refer cases to the health boards. They are now in place. I assure Deputy Fitzgerald that included in those guidelines is a requirement to train people designated by the Garda Síochána and by the health boards to ensure they are fully aware of what they have to do. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Austin Currie, worked on these guidelines most extensively. We discussed the need for letting the Garda Síochána and the health boards know that care should be taken in selecting people, male or female to act as liaison people, to ensure that they are sensitive people appropriate for the job they have to do. Those regulations now require that the notification of cases between the two agencies should be standard procedure. These guidelines will mean we will not have Deputies saying 20 years from now that something should have been done in 1995. All the abuses we are talking about happened in these institutions as far back as the 1970s. I hope with the knowledge we have now, we will move forward and ensure that children in institutions or in their private homes will not end up as victims of sexual abuse.
