The Minister for Justice has sought a report from the Garda authorities on an investigation into the suspected sexual abuse of three children in the 1990s.Mr McDowell sought the report after child protection concerns were raised about the case, and over the fact that no prosecution had resulted from the complaints, which were first made eight years ago.
The parents of two of the alleged victims, now 17 and 15, told The Irish Times they first made a Garda complaint on the matter eight years ago, after they became concerned their children may have been sexually abused by an uncle.
Child protection experts at Crumlin children's hospital believed the two children had been sexually abused, but despite a Garda investigation, the DPP decided not to prosecute.
The suspect continued to have contact with children and in 1998 another young boy, who had been living in the same house as the man, was assessed as having been sexually abused. No prosecution was brought in this case, either.
In May of this year the Government Chief Whip, Ms Mary Hanafin, wrote to Mr McDowell about the case on behalf of the parents. They had originally met her and were seeking to have their 17-year-old son, who continues to suffer from serious behavioural disorders as a result of the abuse, sent to a special residential care centre in Sweden.
She referred the matter to the Department of Justice after she learned that no prosecution had ever resulted from the case.
In a reply last month, the Minister said he was "concerned to learn" of the 17-year-old boy's continuing behavioural problems, and that he had requested a report on the matter.
The Department of Justice is still awaiting the Garda report, and there has been concern over the fact that the suspect continued to have access to children for a number of years after the first complaint was made.
Gardaí have now been in touch with the parents of the suspected abuse victims with a view to re- opening the case.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice declined to comment, stating the department does not do so in relation to individual cases.
The 17-year-old has been one of the most prominent childcare cases in the Irish childcare system over the last five years. He has been living at home for the last 18 months, although he spent most of the previous four years in various children's homes around the State, many of which were unsuitable.
In a 1998 High Court finding on the failure to provide suitable accommodation for the boy, Judge Peter Kelly, paraphrasing Dr Johnson, said the treatment of at- risk children was a measure of a civilised society. "This case demonstrates how spectacularly badly this State has failed that test."
His parents say that despite that judgment, he never received the proper psychotherapeutic treatment he needed at the homes.
"Judge Kelly said that five years ago," the boy's father said yesterday. "And it's still happening today."