Concerns over lack of priority for laws on disclosing abuse

NEW laws to allow churches and other bodies to exchange “soft information” on suspected paedophiles are not being given the priority they need in upcoming legislation, the opposition warned last night.

Concern was expressed that the reform is well down the government’s legislative programme for the Dáil, published yesterday.

The change in the law allowing information, containing suspicions that child sex abuse may be occurring rather than concrete evidence, is in section C of the schedule as the heads of the bill still need to be drafted.

The Government insists the legislation will appear sometime this year, but Fine Gael children’s spokesperson, Alan Shatter, warned that the Government was not doing enough to protect vulnerable youngsters.

“They can move very quickly to bail out the banks, but not when it comes to helping children at risk,” he said.

“I am very concerned about the lack of urgency being shown by the Government. This legislation is vital if we are to protect children, yet we may not even see if drafted for another six months, then it still has to go through both houses of the Oireachtas to become law. This really is not good enough.”

The issue of soft information came to the fore last month when bishops claimed they could not complete one section of the HSE’s national audit form into child abuse allegations and investigations in Catholic dioceses, because it demanded full disclosure of all details, and they feared they could be pursued for damages by any person about whom information was supplied if it turned out to be false or unproven.

Other future legislation includes the Civil Partnership Bill, giving greater protection to cohabiting and same-sex couples. New laws to re-capitalise the banks, guaranteeing savings, and measures for the “prohibition of the use of sun beds by those under 18 years” are also scheduled.

The Criminal Justice (Forensic Sampling and Evidence) Bill will enable the establishment of a DNA database, and the “double jeopardy” rule whereby someone cannot be tried twice for the same crime will be waived in “exceptional circumstances”.

Labour chief whip Emmet Stagg warned the soft information bill may be allowed to “drift”.

“We know from previous experience that many of these bills will never see the light of day in this session,” Mr Stagg said.

“Of the 18 bills that are promised for publication in the coming Dáil session, 10 were also on the list published in September of bills that were promised for publication before the end of last year.”