A turf war between
the HSE and the Gardaí is compromising the proper investigation of child sex
abuse, according a new report by the Garda Inspectorate.

The report,
Responding to Child Sexual Abuse, said that conflict between the Gardaí and the
HSE meant allegations of abuse were not being investigated quickly enough, which
was compromising child safety, according to the Irish
Times.

Joint action sheets
were supposed to be drawn up in all child sexual abuse cases involving the HSE
and the Garda so that those involved knew what aspects of an investigation they
were responsible for, the inspectorate pointed out.

In a sample of cases
in Dublin, the plans had been completed in just 1 per cent of
cases.

The report also said
that Children First was not being implemented.

It said that “[a]ny
reasonable analysis of the….. evidence of the failures to implement the
Children First protocol between the Garda and HSE would have to conclude that
there is a serious problem requiring urgent action to resolve
it”.

The inspectorate,
which advises the Garda and government on policing policy, said there appeared
to be reluctance on the part of the HSE to call gardaí in to investigate
allegations until after children had undergone therapy. This undermined
subsequent prosecutions because an accused could question the integrity of
evidence that emerged in therapy.

The lack of more
meaningful co-operation between the HSE and Garda was disappointing,
particularly in light of the Garda’s excellent relations with other
agencies.

According to the
report, basic record-keeping was so poor that the official crime figures did not
capture up to 65 per cent of sex crimes against children reported to the Garda
in recent years.

The situation had
only become apparent after the Garda was unable to supply the inspectorate with
annual figures for sexual offences against children.

The inspectorate
requested paperwork to be checked in all 112 Garda districts. The disparity that
emerged between the paper records and the Garda computer database of crime rates
called into question the integrity of all child abuse figures, it
said.

In almost one-third
of cases, details of investigations had been entered into the Garda’s Pulse
computer database, but had not been classified as criminal offences and so were
missing from the overall crime figures.

Guidelines for
inputting crimes were not being followed and in one incident three cases
involving nine injured parties had been entered as a single
offence.

The inspectorate said
while its latest report had only studied crime figures on child sex abuse, it
would later review how the Garda recorded all crime types.

The inspectorate
recommended a much greater degree of specialisation within the Garda in its
approach to investigating the sexual abuse of children.

These specialists
should include detectives trained to interview child victims. This should never
be left to front-line uniformed gardaí, it said.

It called for the
appointment of a Garda assistant commissioner with special responsibility for
child protection.

The inspectorate’s
report was commissioned in 2009 by then minister for justice Dermot Ahern. It
was to examine the Garda’s approach to child sex abuse, particularly in the wake
of the Murphy commission’s report into the archdiocese of Dublin, which
criticised the Garda.

“It is not an acceptable option for the Garda Síochána to do nothing,” the report says. The inspectorate notes most investigations into child sex abuse should take only three months.