Child protection - A system in dire need of replacement

IN the relative calm that has settled after the extraordinary events of the past 10 days, the Government must apply itself in repairing the collateral damage in the system that has become glaringly obvious, especially in the area of child protection measures.

Vital though that is, there are also factors neglected, or missing, which were supposed to act as an early warning system but failed utterly to stimulate the Government to an issue of constitutionality that would rock it and the country as a whole.

All the signals had been given, and completely ignored, by the Government, that the Supreme Court would consider the defence not allowed in the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1935, mistake as to age. On May 23, it did just that, and struck down the provision which eventually resulted in the release of Mr A, leading to unprecedented public outrage.

The same court had, in any case, in 2005, said it was willing to consider the constitutionality of that law, which should have had the Government and its relevant agencies in a state of readiness to confront any such challenge.

Yet, it was not. What was described euphemistically as an “information deficit” by Tánaiste Mary Harney led to what could more accurately be counted as a national emergency, characterised by the revulsion felt by the public at the release of even one child rapist, and the possible freeing of six other offenders.

Instead, its strategy was to attempt to ineptly deny there was any void in the law which could lead to precisely that situation, only to be proved wrong. That was followed by serial denial of any responsibility for the emergency, utterly rejected by an incensed public, and then the dual assault of rushed legislation through the Oireachtas and the Supreme Court appeal in an effort to remedy the situation.

Mercifully, that court extricated the Government from the consequences of its own folly, and restored the composure of a desperately-worried public, by promptly allowing the State’s appeal and ordering the re-arrest of Mr A. That legislation needs to be examined thoroughly because undoubtedly it contains flaws that have to be excised as they may cause more problems than the legislation solved.

The emergency legislation is defective, because of the anomalies pointed out by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, to the warning by Justice Minister Michael McDowell that it would make more difficult the protection of those it was intended to protect and make victims more fearful. The entire area of child protection demands the focused attention of the Dáil and a broad, comprehensive debate to remove those defects and place in situ sound legislative remedies, along with ancillary support mechanisms.

The panic of the past 10 days should have been, indeed, could have been, avoided had the proper procedures been triggered.

It is pointless putting in place a reporting system, as was established 12 years ago in the aftermath of the crisis created by the Fr Brendan Smyth debacle, if it is not invoked when needed.

Because the existing system is grossly defective, as illustrated by the Tánaiste’s ludicrously and seriously inapt designation as an “information deficit”, it has to be replaced by an effective method of monitoring and reviewing the law, with responsibility for it clearly and unequivocally defined.