Poor web speed, staff shortages and backlog hinder garda inquiries

Wrong language, weak sentences, poor resources: victims and those who support them are frustrated with the criminal justice system’s response to child sexual abuse material. Caroline O’Doherty reports

Tusla is seeking an urgent meeting with Scouting Ireland amid growing concerns for the safety and protection of children.

The latest revelations by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, that it still has “serious concerns” over the ability of Scouting Ireland to keep children safe, are shocking and disturbing and will be a great worry to parents and guardians of young people who take part in scouting.

“If I had a child involved in scouts this weekend I don’t think I would be comfortable allowing that child to go off on an overnight camping trip.”

The support offered by Scouting Ireland to people alleging they were abused, sexually and physically, within scouting is not enough, a leading abuse survivors charity has claimed.

A support group for victims of sexual abuse has warned that it cannot cater to the demand for its programme to rehabilitate offenders — and that victims feel demeaned by the Irish criminal justice system.

Adult survivors of child sexual abuse who engage in the criminal justice system are often left feeling demeaned and humiliated by the process.

Leo Varadkar’s speech on Saturday was a powerful affirmation of what a modern Ireland must look like, says Fergus Finlay.

Update: The Dublin Region Homeless Executive says it has sourced a large number of additional emergency accommodation to cater for families during the Pope visit.

A damning investigation into the State’s child protection agency Tusla has identified 65 cases where the group failed to protect children who are at “potential risk” of abuse.

As many as 60 people a day have been calling helplines for victims of sexual assault since the sentencing of sex offender Tom Humphries.

A sexual abuse charity says most of its child protection notifications are being returned as 'unfounded'.

One in Four, a charity which supports victims of sexual abuse, made 91 child protection notifications to Tusla, the child and family agency, which resulted in the monitoring of one sex offender.

Tusla, the child and family agency, has been found to have “serious failings” in how it carries out its role.

New figures show there are 120 sex offenders living in communities across Ireland who are subject to monitoring as part of post-release supervision orders.

One In Four is well known for working with victims of sexual abuse. So many are shocked to learn it also reaches out to people who ‘exhibit sexually harmful behaviour towards children’. Caroline O’Doherty discovers how it’s all part of the work to protect all our children.

Rape crisis centres, women’s groups and the Policing Authority have welcomed the establishment of four divisional specialist units to investigate domestic, sexual and child abuse.

Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan has brushed off remarks by the chair of the Policing Authority that there were concerns over her ability to focus on her job while dealing with the whistleblower tribunal.

Clerical abuse survivor and campaigner, Marie Collins, said she resigned from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors because a group of people in the Vatican had been obstructing its work, including not following recommendations from the Pope.

There has been a rise in young male sexual offenders who began offending by downloading images of child abuse from the internet.

One in four children in Ireland have been sexually abused, according to support group 'One in Four'.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has insisted that every allegation of clerical abuse must be reported to gardaí.

The need for sex offenders to have access to appropriate treatment services is recognised by Children First, the national guideline for the protection and welfare of children.

Not enough is being done to keep children safe from sexual harm, according to one of the country’s leading sexual abuse charities.

A support group for survivors of sexual abuse has criticised a Court of Appeal decision to reduce the sentence imposed on an 81-year-old former primary school principal, jailed for indecently assaulting 11 of his female pupils.

One of the country’s main groups for helping victims of sexual abuse has called the lack of services available “a national scandal” as it faces the prospect of not being able to accept new clients for up to four months amid mounting waiting lists for services.

Only four out of 114 sex offenders who underwent treatment at a specialist abuse organisation have re-offended.

The popular perception that child sex abusers are predominantly paedophile Catholic priests or dirty old men in raincoats has been challenged by a leading charity that counsels victims and treats perpetrators.

One in Four says there has been a marked increase in the number of young sex offenders.

The Government yesterday hailed the publication of the long-awaited Children First Bill which, if made into law, will make it mandatory for professionals to report possible incidents of abuse.

Several children’s groups have today criticised aspects of new legislation making the reporting of child abuse mandatory for named professions.

Tributes have been pouring in following the death of Christine Buckley, one of the first people to speak out publicly about institutional abuse in this country.

In the early ’90s, her lone voice exposed a dark period in history, writes Conall Ó Fátharta

The legal and other ramifications of the European Court of Human Rights ruling against the State will have to be considered in detail by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn and other government agencies.

A Corkwoman who was sexually abused by her school principal has won a landmark lawsuit against the Irish state for failing to protect her.

The Catholic Church’s child safety watchdog has said it may never know the number of victims of clerical sex abuse where priests could have been taken out of circulation earlier to prevent further harm.

Just 12 Christian Brothers have been convicted of child sex abuse despite allegations being made against 325 members of the order, a safeguarding audit has found.

The Minister for Children described the number of child sex abuse allegations against the Christian Brothers as "chilling".

The majority of historic child abuse complaints a leading charity forwards to the HSE are not investigated — despite the fact the attackers may still be a danger to the public.

Ireland’s criminal justice system is still a source of trauma and distress for victims of sexual abuse.

Sex offenders may be left to walk around because notifications to child protection services are not investigated.