Child-abuse commission reports to be published

The Minister for Education will publish two reports in to the operation of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse later today.

The first report was conducted by the-then senior counsel Mr Seán Ryan following  his appointment as Ms Justice Mary Laffoy's successor. Ms Laffoy resigned because she says she was hindered by a lack of resources and co-operation from the Government.

Mr Ryan was appointed to the High Court and has taken over as chair of the commission when Ms Justice Laffoy's resignation came into effect last month.

The Government requested that Mr Ryan examine the Commission's work to date. The terms of reference of the review asked that he examine methods to complete the Commission's work as quickly as possible while not incurring exceptionally high costs.

It is unclear how Mr Justice Ryan will reconcile these criteria with the 1,700 outstanding cases and estimates that under the current format the Commission could take 11 years and €200 million to complete its work.

Mr Dempsey has promised every assistance to Mr Justice Ryan and added if the review sought changes to legislation that would be contemplated.

The Minister for Education will also publish a second report on the operation of the Commission. This report was written by the Attorney-General Mr Rory Brady last year.

Full copies of the reports will be available on this site after 5 p.m.