Review in paedophile ring case may highlight uncomfortable truths about State agencies
IT RECEIVED little attention this week, but a very significant review was ordered by Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone into the handling by authorities of the case involving what is feared to be the largest paedophile ring the country has ever seen.
The Dáil heard earlier this month how up to 20 children had been identified as alleged victims. Those familiar with the case say there has been nothing like it in Ireland before, with grooming of children for sexual activity a major feature.
Sadly, there are fears that yet again our State authorities did not act as early as they might have on various indicators of abuse.
One senior figure familiar with the matter has told the
Irish Independent: “It will be the biggest abuse case in the history of the State and explosive for the State agencies.”
The Dáil heard that concerns had been expressed by a whistleblower in the welfare sector over the urgency of the response of State agencies when allegations first came to light.
We do not yet know what the terms of reference for the review will be.
In a statement this week, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs said the man who will lead the review, special rapporteur on child protection Geoffrey Shannon, was assisting in the drafting of these.
Advice will also be sought from the Attorney General, so as not to prejudice an ongoing Garda inquiry. Eleven people have been arrested by detectives thus far and files are being prepared for the DPP.
Dr Shannon is well placed to know what the potential failings are, having previously conducted much research on the interactions of State agencies.
In particular, last May he found overwhelming inadequacies in the way that information is shared between An Garda Síochána and Tusla.
These findings were made in a hugely significant report, which analysed the exercise of Garda powers to remove children from the home under Section 12 of the Childcare Act.
Notwithstanding the ongoing Garda investigation in the current case, at the very minimum it must be hoped that the review asks searching questions about whether indicators of abuse were picked up by gardaí, Tusla and other State agencies.
It should be able to examine whether information was shared correctly – and if not, why not. If there are uncomfortable truths, these must be faced up to.
One thing which screamed out from the Section 12 report was that the framework for informationsharing leaves a lot to be desired.
While Dr Shannon was praising the work of gardaí, his report highlighted many issues of concern, the most serious of which was a lack of inter-agency co-operation.
His report said there were inadequacies in the operation of the Garda Pulse system, with numerous gaps and flaws in the data captured.
The report was critical of the fact that there was little or no emphasis on formal training of new Garda recruits in relation to child protection. The lack of a proper Tusla out-of-hours service was also heavily criticised.
Dr Shannon urged a review of the Data Protection Acts and how these impact operationally for State agencies, in order to ensure that there are no legislative roadblocks impeding child-protection services sharing information relating to vulnerable children and their families.
Just over 10 months on from publication, progress on the implementation of recommendations has been slow.
Dr Shannon urged the appointment of specialised child-protection units nationally and the appointment of social workers to them.
While this matter is being examined, Tusla and Garda authorities have yet to work out how this would operate.
Tusla also said it was still working to develop a single national 24/7 out-of hours service.
How information should be shared is yet to be resolved. A memorandum of understanding on information-sharing between gardaí and Tusla is being developed and is “in a final draft stage”, Tusla said.
The Department of Children has recognised that this is a critical issue and said Ms Zappone had met with Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan and Dr Shannon “to discuss the issues which might inhibit the sharing of information in cases involving Tusla and An Garda Síochána, (which are) involved in child protection and criminal prosecution respectively”.
Just how much progress has been made by An Garda Síochána is unclear.
The Irish Independent submitted a list of 15 questions in relation to the recommendations last Monday and has yet to receive a response.
‘It will be the biggest abuse case in the history of the State and explosive for the State agencies’