The investigation into the Attorney General's office's handling of the issues surrounding last month's Supreme Court statutory rape case has cleared Attorney General Rory Brady of any responsibility.
The report by an official with the Department of Finance, Eddie Sullivan, is expected to be published today by the Government, although only after the Opposition is denied an opportunity to raise questions about it in the Dáil.
Mr Sullivan has found that mistakes by one official were responsible for Mr Brady not knowing in advance that a case was to come before the Supreme Court that raised dangers that child sex offenders could be freed. Mr Sullivan, according to sources last night, has found that just one of seven separate actions necessary to have ensured that the Attorney General's office was fully informed actually happened.
The only one that did occur properly was the notification sent by the Chief State Solicitor's office in November 2002 that a challenge was to go first to the High Court, and then the Supreme Court, if necessary.
New rules to ensure that a similar communications failure could not happen in future were put in place immediately after the crisis, though it is not yet clear if Mr Sullivan will make additional recommendations.
Meanwhile, the Government and Opposition last night agreed the terms of reference of an Oireachtas inquiry into child protection standards in the State, which will work over the summer and report by November.
The inquiry, to be headed by Fianna Fáil TD Peter Power, will examine criminal law, the age of consent and the procedures faced by children when they have to give evidence in court.
Furthermore, it will examine "the desirability or otherwise of amending the Constitution" to deal with the outcome of the Supreme Court's CC judgment and to provide for a "general right of protection for children".
In its CC judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that an accused had to be able to argue in court that he did not know that a sexual partner had been under the age of consent.
The man, who is now 24-years-old, faced four charges after he was accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl on a number of occasions in 2001 and 2002, though he claimed that she had told him she was 16.
Fine Gael TD Jim O'Keeffe said he believed the terms of reference would allow him to seek evidence from Mr Sullivan about his investigation into the Attorney General's office.
"It is clear to me that this permits me to raise the Sullivan report before the committee and to seek his attendance to discuss the contents of the report," Mr O'Keeffe told The Irish Times late last night. The all-party committee, which will have its first meeting on July 18th, will also include Fine Gael TD Olwyn Enright, Fine Gael Senator Sheila Terry, Labour Party TD Brendan Howlin and Labour Senator Derek McDowell.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and Minister of State Brian Lenihan will be ex-officio members of the committee, though they will have the right to vote.
