Minister: SF calls for abuse forum a 'smokescreen'

A Cabinet Minister has accused Sinn Féin of a smokescreen in their request for an all-island forum for victims of sex abuse to come forward.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald has again called for the forum originally suggested by Martin McGuinness.

It follows the case of Paudie McGahon who said he was raped by an IRA man in the 1990s and subjected to a kangaroo court in 2002.

In the Dáil, Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan said a forum or any other type of inquiry would not deal with what is the issue right now.

"The most important and most urgent thing is that information that is available now is given to authorities - now," she said

"If children are at risk ... then we need people who know to go forward. "

"Information that was available in 2009 - and before and after - should be given to the authorities."