The Children’s Ombudsman yesterday broke new ground as she activated a complaints procedure for 17-year-olds detained in St Patrick’s Institution for young offenders.

The last 16-year-old boy in an adult jail has been released in what was seen as a “milestone” for the country.

In the midst of the uproar over the Murphy Report on clerical paedophile abuse, it is disturbing to learn that warnings about other forms of child abuse will not be acted upon properly until 2012.