Abuse Commission opposed to case-by-case investigations

The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has expressed its opposition to the holding of case-by-case investigations into allegations of abuse.

The commission was established in 1999 to conduct just such an investigation, but its chairman, Justice Sean Ryan, said today that that a case-by-case inquiry would be too slow and inefficient.

Justice Ryan said a thorough examination of all abuse allegations would be impossible to achieve in a reasonable period and many alleged victims would have died before they would get a chance to tell their stories.

Justice Ryan’s predecessor, Justice Mary Laffoy, resigned as chair of the commission last November in protest at Government plans to water down the work of the body.

The Government wanted the Commission to only investigate a number of sample cases rather than giving all abuse victims an opportunity to tell their stories.

In his opening statement as chairman of the commission today, Justice Ryan effectively supported this stance, which could require a change to the terms of the reference of his inquiry.

He said interested parties had three weeks to make their views on the matter known before a public hearing is held on May 24.