12. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to a Topical Issue raised on 19 October 2023, if he will outline the current total number of allegations of child sexual abuse involving any member of the Probation Service that he or his Department have been made aware of; if he has considered putting in place a non-adversarial redress scheme, if appropriate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36677/25]

Sentiment score: -0.03

I appreciate the Minister outlining in detail the previous work that has been done on this case. As he said, there is now confirmation by the Department of two reports of allegations of child sexual abuse. In the Minister's words, they relate to a "deceased" member of the Probation Service. Of course, this matter has also been the topic of much media coverage. The "RTÉ Investigates" programme carried out an investigation, entitled "Scouts Dishonour", in which it referred to the then chief scout, the late Joe Lawlor, and allegations in regard to him and his service in the Probation Service. Joe Duffy, on RTÉ, has also discussed this case in much detail. I appreciate that these cases are incredibly sensitive. Unfortunately, for victims of abuse, there is a stigma in coming forward, but if you were also the subject of the Probation Service, there is almost a double stigma in coming forward because you have to reveal that as well.

Sentiment score: 0.02

Perhaps a redress scheme would be overly complex and result in people receiving justice delayed. Equally, we should not be placing the burden on victims of having to sue the State. That is not necessarily the best way forward. We have seen in other cases where people's only option is to sue the State and often justice is incredibly delayed. Perhaps there is a mechanism here to try to mediate this and to try to come forward with a non-adversarial solution. The criminal justice process is not an option because the person is deceased but there are also questions about what the State knew about this gentleman's service. He worked for the Probation Service for decades. It is incredibly important that whatever information or files are available to the Department of justice are reviewed and we air what was known. As we have seen with other cases of sexual abuse, it is important there is transparency about what happens.

Sentiment score: -0.00