IRELAND
Irish Independent
By Paul Melia
Thursday October 11 2012
CHURCH authorities took almost four months to report allegations of child sex abuse despite new guidelines that incidents should be immediately reported to gardai and the HSE.
A HSE report published today says just 15pc of all cases were reported to gardai and health chiefs “with immediacy” or within three days, and that dioceses “misinterpreted” the guidelines which were introduced in 2009.
And it found that despite telling the HSE that all allegations received had been reported to gardai and health bosses, some dioceses had not passed on the information.
There was a wide variation in the reporting procedures used by the dioceses, and there was a need for “further improvements,” Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said.
“Focus must remain on addressing the need for ongoing improvements; in particular in those dioceses identified by the audit as requiring further work,” she said, adding she was “concerned” by some aspects of the report’s findings.
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