S.I. No. 137/2006 - Commission of Investigation (Child Sexual Abuse) Order 2006

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

S.I. No. 137 OF 2006

COMMISSION OF INVESTIGATION (CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE) ORDER 2006

ORDER

entitled

Commission of Investigation (Child Sexual Abuse) Order 2006

WHEREAS pursuant to section 3(1) of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 (No. 23 of 2004) the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform made a proposal to the Government, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, for the establishment of a commission under that Act to investigate a matter specified by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;

AND WHEREAS the Government by decision made on 8 November 2005 considered the matter so specified to be of such significant public concern as to warrant the making of an order and establishment of a commission under that section;

AND WHEREAS a draft of the following Order has been laid before each House of the Oireachtas, together with a statement of the reasons for establishing the commission, and a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House;

NOW, the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 3(1 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 , hereby order as follows:

1.      This Order may be cited as the Commission of Investigation (Child Sexual Abuse) Order 2006.

2.    (1)    A commission of investigation is hereby established to:

(a)      select a representative sample of complaints or allegations of child sexual abuse made to the archdiocesan and other Catholic Church authorities and public and State authorities in the period 1 January 1975 to 1 May 2004 against Catholic clergy operating under the aegis of the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin;

(b)      examine and report on the nature of the response to those sample complaints or allegations on the part of the authorities to which those sample complaints or allegations were reported, including whether there is any evidence of attempts on the part of those authorities to obstruct, prevent or interfere with the proper investigation of such complaints;

(c)      in the case of complaints or allegations being examined, examine and report also on the nature of the response to any other complaints or allegations made by the complainant or against the person in respect of whom those complaints or allegations were made, including any such complaints or allegations made before 1 January 1975;

(d)      select a representative sample of cases where the archdiocesan and other Catholic Church and public and State authorities had in the period 1 January 1975 to 1 May 2004 knowledge of or strong and clear suspicion of or reasonable concern regarding sexual abuse involving Catholic clergy operating under the aegis of the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin;

(e)      establish the response of the archdiocesan and other Catholic Church and public and State authorities to those sample cases;

(f)      establish the levels of communication that prevailed between the archdiocesan and other Catholic Church authorities and public and State authorities with regard to those sample complaints, allegations knowledge, reasonable concern or strong and clear suspicion;

(g)      examine, following a notification from the Minister for Health and Children that a Catholic diocese in the State may not have established the structures or may not be operating satisfactorily the procedures set out in the Report of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Advisory Committee on Child Sexual Abuse by Priests and Religious Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response (1996) and any subsequent similar document, the position in that diocese;

(h)      examine, following a notification from the Minister for Health and Children that a Catholic diocese in the State may not be implementing satisfactorily the recommendations of the Ferns Report delivered to the Minister for Health and Children on 25 October, 2005, the position in that diocese;

and make a report on these matters considered by the Government to be of significant public concern.

(2)      A statement of reasons for establishing a commission of investigation is set out in the Schedule to this Order.

3.      The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is specified as the Minister responsible for overseeing administrative matters relating to the establishment of the commission, for receiving its reports and for performing any other functions given to him under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 (No. 23 of 2004).

SCHEDULE

Statement of reasons for establishing a Commission of Investigation

Section 3(1) of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 provides that following a proposal made by a Minister with the approval of the Minister for Finance, the Government may, by order, establish a commission to investigate any matter considered by the Government to be of a significant public concern.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform wishes to establish a commission under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 to investigate matters clearly of significant public concern, namely, (i) the handling of allegations or complaints of child sexual abuse made against clergy operating under the aegis of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin and the response to cases where there was knowledge or strong and clear suspicion of or reasonable concern regarding such abuse; (ii) the position in a Catholic diocese, following a notification from the Minister for Health and Children that it may not be implementing Church guidelines for responding to an accusation, suspicion or knowledge of child sexual abuse by a priest or religious; and (iii) the position in a diocese, following a notification from the Minister for Health and Children that a Catholic diocese in the State may not be implementing satisfactorily the recommendations of the Ferns Report delivered to the Minister for Health and Children on 25 October, 2005, the position in that diocese. The Minister is strongly of the view that the matters to be investigated by the commission are clearly ones of significant public concern as envisaged under section 3(1)(a) of the Act. It is also his strong view that a commission of investigation is the appropriate method of investigating these matters.

At its meeting on 8 November 2005 the Government agreed the processes including the draft Order and Statement of Reasons for establishment of the Commission as defined in the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 .