I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the issue of whether the Government intends to initiate an independent inquiry into child sex abuse cases in Wexford, what form the inquiry would take and whether the Government would undertake to publish the report of such an inquiry.
I raised the investigation into the conduct of child sex abuse cases on 22 February last. I was concerned that many worrying aspects of this investigation required explanation. The Minister's response was that the matter was the subject of a Garda investigation and that it was not the practice of the Minister for Justice to make statements to the House about the progress of Garda investigations except in instances where the circumstances are so exceptional that such a course of action is appropriate. At the time, I believed that response was appropriate.
I have heard that the families involved in those cases now believe the Minister of State, Deputy Currie, will order an independent inquiry into the Fr. Jim Grennan case. I will outline the background to this. In 1986-87 a school teacher in Monageer outside Enniscorthy was preparing a class for confirmation when some children complained about being abused by a local priest. The teacher reported this to the community care authority. A report was prepared and subsequently a copy was sent to the bishop. The priest was removed for a short time but returned after some weeks. The community care authority could not do anything about it. Counselling was not made available to the children. Unfortunately, the priest reoffended in 1993-94, although this did not come to light until after the priest died in 1994.
Initially, the impression given locally was that the allegations were false and the families concerned suffered a great deal as a result. According to reports, the boy involved in the latter case tried to commit suicide a couple of times. It is now alleged that the failures took place at a high level in the health board and the Garda. The Garda inquiry taking place now seeks to find out why the authorities did not proceed with the prosecution when there appeared to be more than enough evidence to send to the DPP, and to establish if the health board handled their area of responsibility properly.
What is the truth? Has the Minister initiated an inquiry and if so what persuaded him to initiate it? Has he now received the Garda report on its investigation? Can he let us know what happened to halt the investigation at the time? There is also anxiety about a subsequent case, the Fr. Jim Doyle case. He was convicted in 1990 of abuse of a young boy who also, unfortunately, tried to commit suicide. Was there counselling and support for the families in that case?
Does the Minister think people in authority other than the Garda were involved in obstructing the investigation? If an inquiry is planned, what is its scope and intent and will the Minister undertake to publish the result of it? Who was involved in trying to obstruct the investigation in the child abuse cases in Wexford?
