‘Soft information’ exchange laws to come before Dáil

LAWS allowing the exchange of “soft information” such as unproven allegations or suspicions of child sex abuse are to be brought forward by the Government in the coming months.

Minister for Children, Barry Andrews, said yesterday that legislation is being prepared by the Department of Justice and will come before the Dáil in the next six months.

He said legal difficulties around the use of such soft evidence was the reason given by some bishops not to provide information required by the Health Service Executive (HSE) audit into child protection practices in the Catholic Church, published yesterday.

“The question of soft information was raised very early on in the process, all of the advice was that the exchange of that kind of information presented a legal difficulty for all involved. Legal advice was obtained by the gardaí, the HSE and the bishop in that regard,” Mr Andrews said at the launch of the HSE audit yesterday.

The minister said the failure of the bishops to provide information to section five of the audit significantly detracted from the audit’s value.

Mr Andrews added that a lot of the questions asked in the section did not require individuals to be named: “It’s simply data that we are seeking, we are looking for figures on how many priests were convicted, how many are in restricted ministry,” he said.

The Government previously asked the Attorney General for legal advice on the matter but was told that allowing for the use of soft information would require a constitutional referendum.

But the Oireachtas Committee on Child Protection, chaired by Deputy Mary O’Rourke, later concluded that a constitutional referendum would not be needed.