I am grateful for the opportunity to again raise the issue of the Monagear investigation as many unanswered questions remain. When I first raised this matter on 22 February last I stated that there were serious questions to be answered about the investigation of at least five allegations of child sexual abuse in Wexford in 1988. Now that the internal Garda report has been submitted to the Garda Commissioner, there are still unanswered questions and we need answers.
Does the Minister intend to make the report public? Does the report answer the accusation that a garda was instructed to call on the priest to request him to leave the parish with a caveat that if he refused he would be arrested? Does it reveal on whose instructions the investigating officer acted when he was told to send handwritten statements to Garda headquarters in Wexford without making copies of them, which is the normal procedure? Does the report indicate who in Garda management made the decision to drop the case and why? Does it indicate if the priest's superiors were informed of the investigation and, if so, what action was taken by them? In this case the original file was lost. Has that file been found? Has the Garda inquiry established why the authorities did not proceed with the prosecution when there appeared to be more than enough evidence to send to the DPP?
These questions must be answered and the Garda report must be published, particularly in view of the fact that the victims of the abuse wish its findings to be made known. The statement from the Garda Commissioner last Friday stated that the health board acted properly, as did the local gardaí, and declared that the investigation was inadequate. We must find out exactly what that means. Who will be held accountable? How will the Minister respond to the wishes of the victims? How will the Minister ensure that proper procedures are put in place so that this will never happen again?
