Number of abuse cases stuns Ahern

TAOISEACH Bertie Aherne yesterday defended his embattled Education Minister Noel Dempsey in the continuing row over the dramatic resignation of the head of the Child Abuse Commission.

Mr Ahern said he never thought there would be 1,700 cases of abuse to deal with and that the legal problems would be so complex.

Mr Ahern made his comments yesterday in response to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who said there could be suspicion when the Department of Education, which is overseeing the commission, is itself under investigation.