Report launch:Catholic bishops could face criminal prosecution if they fail to deal with future cases of clerical child abuse, the Government has warned.
The Ferns inquiry report has recommended that those who "wantonly, or recklessly engage in conduct that creates a substantial risk of sexual abuse to a child" be prosecuted for "reckless endangerment".
The Government is sympathetic to the creation of the new offence, said Minister of State for Children Brian Lenihan.
"We can't have employers, or bishops, or anyone else say that their own internal work rules, or canon law prevent them from taking action," he said.
Asked if this meant that bishops would face prosecution, he said: "That's what it would mean, but there would have to be an element of recklessness.
"The mental element in the crime would have to be set at a certain threshold. There is a provision in some US jurisdictions of this character," he said.
Welcoming the publication of the report, he said: "On behalf of the Government I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms the repeated failure and gross dereliction of duties of those in positions of trust in the diocese of Ferns who engaged in acts of child abuse or failed to take effective steps to defend and vindicate the rights of the children concerned."
Major changes would have to be accepted by the Catholic Church, he said. "I don't think it is a matter of discretion. The facts in this report are very serious and they require a response. Child protection is not a discretionary issue.
"The interests of the group don't come first. The interests of the child come first.
"If they are not prepared to implement proper standards the State has to intervene," Mr Lenihan said.
The Catholic bishops must now copy the anti-abuse precautions put in place in Ferns by acting bishop Dr Eamonn Walsh since he replaced Dr Brendan Comiskey.
Praising Dr Walsh for doing "a very good job" in the diocese, Mr Lenihan said the bishop had created an interagency committee including church staff, health workers and gardaí to deal with child abuse allegations.
"I am now writing to the episcopal conference to see that that type of system is implemented everywhere. The inquiry concluded that there is a good practice in Ferns.
"I want to see that happen everywhere else. It may be that it is happening. On the other hand maybe it is not," the Minister declared.
The Health Services Executive, he said, will now be told to liaise with the Hierarchy to make sure that proper standards are imposed in each diocese.
"We must learn from the mistakes of the past.
"In addition to increasing public awareness and understanding of the horror of child sexual abuse, this report provides practical and far-reaching recommendations to strengthen child protection practices in organisations working with children and to ensure a speedy and effective response to reports of abuse," said Mr Lenihan.
The report by Mr Justice Murphy made clear, he said, "that a bishop is a bishop in his diocese. There is no strict sense of collective responsibility in the Hierarchy. Clearly, they must be deeply ashamed of the facts as they are set out. I have no doubt they are, and they intend to address them," he said.
However, Bishop Comiskey did not respond in an adequate way to the complaints that were made to him, said the Minister of State.
The Government's priority was to create an atmosphere where child abuse was prevented wherever possible, and where children felt able to report such cases when they occurred.
The Government also favoured the creation of new powers for the Health Services Executive to bar any person from being with children if there were reasonable grounds for believing they were capable of abuse.
