Victim support group welcomes move by minister

The victim support group 'One in Four' has welcomed the move by the Justice minister to examine the possibility of criminal prosecutions against child abusers in the Catholic clergy.

They say the Government is finally standing up to the church.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell has told the Dail that a team of Gardai led by a chief superintendent will be assigned to examine the possibility of criminal prosecutions against child abusers in the Catholic clergy.

The minister said he is not afraid of the power of the Catholic Church and is considering a course of action designed to punish clergymen found guilty of crimes.

The victim support group 'One in Four' has welcomed the move, saying the Government is finally standing up to the church.

One in Four director Colm O'Gorman said: "The most encouraging thing I think that I heard today was a statement from Minister McDowell in which he effectively, I think, consigned the whole debate about Canon Law to the dustbin for once and for all."

Meanwhile, the Survivors of Child Abuse group is seeking an urgent meeting with Minister McDowell to call for a statutory inquiry into all clerical and religious abuse within the State's jurisdiction.

The group wants the terms of the reference of the Laffoy Commission extended so that it has similar powers to the Flood Tribunal.

The Laffoy Commission was established in 1999 to investigate abuse of children in 59 institutions controlled or supervised by the State.

Most of the cases before the commission relate to alleged events in industrial schools during the 1950s and 1960s.