Cabinet approves Cloyne abuse report delay
The Commission of Investigation probe had been expected to be released over the summer, but will now be held back until October 31.
The Cabinet has approved the delay, and a Government spokesperson put it down to purely “secretarial” issues regarding its release.
The Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation was asked to examine the diocese by Minister for Children, Barry Andrews last year.
A devastating report from the Catholic Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children put the handling of clerical sex abuse complaints into the spotlight in December 2008 when it found that child protection measures in the diocese were putting young children at risk by failing to, or delaying, reporting abuse allegations to the HSE and Gardaí.
The head of the Catholic Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children Ian Elliott described child protection practices in the diocese as “inadequate and in some respects dangerous”.
Mr Andrews decided to refer the Cloyne diocese to the Dublin Commission of Investigation following a HSE audit of child protection practices across all dioceses.
A meeting of all priests from the 46 Cloyne parishes had been scheduled for this Friday in order for them to prepare for the publication of the Commission of Investigation report.
A letter was sent to all priests in the Co Cork diocese asking them to attend the seminar at Garryvoe Hotel. A spokesperson for the diocese was unavailable to say whether the meeting would now go ahead or not.
