IRELAND
Irish Independent
By Paul Melia and Breda Heffernan
Friday October 12 2012
THE Catholic Church took almost four months to report allegations of child sex abuse despite new guidelines requiring that all incidents be immediately notified to gardai and the HSE.
A HSE audit has found “significant weaknesses” in how children are protected in some of the country’s 24 dioceses, and says the State should take a hands-on role and make sure protection standards are fully implemented.
This is because some dioceses had “misinterpreted” guidelines introduced in 2009 with a “wide variation” in reporting procedures and “significant weaknesses” identified.
Clogher diocese showed an “unacceptable” delay of up to four months to report three allegations made in 2009, it found, while some claims were still not being reported in Ferns.
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