The investigation into the handling by the Attorney General's Office of the statutory rape Supreme Court challenge had been restricted to protect members of the Cabinet, the Opposition charged last night.
The report of the investigation by a Department of Finance official, Eddie Sullivan, was published yesterday.
Fine Gael TD Jim O'Keeffe said the Government had been "afraid" to hold an independent investigation into one of "the most significant crises in our criminal justice system for many years".
He added: "It is clear that this report was submitted to the Government in June, but it was suppressed until there was no opportunity for its contents to be debated in the Dáil."
Minister for Finance Brian Cowen rejected attempts by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour's Pat Rabbitte to force an emergency debate in the Dáil.
Mr O'Keeffe said the Sullivan inquiry's terms of reference were deliberately "drawn far too tightly" to block examination of the role of the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Minister's "failure" to have draft legislation ready to cope with the outcome of a negative Supreme Court judgment should be investigated, the Cork South West deputy declared.
Mr Rabbitte said the Sullivan report could not be regarded as "an adequate explanation" of the crisis, which led to the temporary release of a self-confessed paedophile and could lead to further releases.
"It is stretching credulity to breaking point to suggest that the failure to keep the Attorney General informed of the consequences of such a vitally important case was simply an 'administrative error'," said Mr Rabbitte.
The 1995 inquiry set up after the Brendan Smyth crisis ordered that all important cases should be brought to the personal attention of the Attorney General, yet this did not happen.
The failure happened six times, he charged, adding that those politically responsible - Attorney General Rory Brady, Mr McDowell and the Taoiseach - "must take responsibility".
However, Tánaiste Mary Harney rejected the Opposition's charge that publication of the report had been deliberately delayed until the Dáil had risen for the summer.
She said she had seen the report for the first time on Tuesday, adding that the Taoiseach had given details of its conclusions when he answered questions. "We were aware it was an administrative error in the Attorney General's Office, an unfortunate administrative error that should not have happened, and clearly steps are now being taken to ensure that it doesn't happen again," she said.
Rejecting the Tánaiste's explanation, Green Party Dún Laoghaire TD Ciarán Cuffe said the report was completed before the end of last month: "The Government has acted despicably."
Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the findings would not "allay public concern" about the handling of the case. "It is hard to accept that all that was involved was an administrative error," he said.
