Opposition demands statement on Laffoy resignation

The Government today faced demands for a detailed statement on the sudden overnight resignation of a High Court judge as the head of a commission investigating all aspects of child abuse.

The pressure intensified on ministers as they prepared for the first post-summer holiday cabinet session, being staged 40 miles from Dublin, in Co Laois.

The meeting had been due to concentrate on plans for next year’s Irish presidency of the European Union, but the shock departure of Ms Justice Mary Laffoy as chairman of the government-appointed Commission on Child Abuse looked certain to dominate instead.

The judge quit 24 hours after the Government announced plans to change the body’s remit.

Her decision was announced on the Commission website, and an official spokesman would not say afterwards whether the resignation had been expected.

Ms Justice Laffoy said only that the reasons for her move had been outlined in a letter to the Government.

Both the Fine Gael and the Labour party today demanded a full statement on the affair from Education Minister Noel Dempsey.

Groups representing victims of child abuse also reacted strongly to Ms Justice Laffoy’s decision to leave.

Colm O’Gorman, of the One in Four organisation, called on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to publish all correspondence relating to the resignation.

Christine Buckley, of the Ashlinn Survivors Group, said the judge would only have left if she felt there was no other alternative and claimed there appeared to be a complete breakdown between the Department of Education and the Commission.

She added: “The effects of this will be shocking. I feel the education minister is largely responsible for this, as well as the religious institutions. Justice has again let us down.”

Ms Justice Laffoy will go as soon as the Commission – appointed by the Government four years ago to investigate the effects of child abuse at all levels, including state-backed religious institutions, on its victims – submits a fresh review of its work to Mr Dempsey in November.

On Monday, Mr Dempsey announced a second phase of a review process aimed at achieving the original intentions of the Commission, but within a more reasonable timeframe and in a cost-effective manner.

The minister said the Commission would not complete its work for up to 11 years if it continued as currently established, and could cost as much as €200m.