The Fine Gael and Labour Party leaders have jointly proposed an independent investigation into the handling by the State's legal offices of the "CC" case, which resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that the law governing sex offences against children is unconstitutional.
Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte yesterday described the Government's plan to have a civil servant simply review procedures in the Attorney General's office as "totally inadequate".
At a joint press conference in Dublin yesterday they demanded an independent investigation under the Commission of Investigations Act 2004. This Act allows the Government to set up a commission to investigate any specific matter, and is designed to achieve more speedy results than a tribunal of inquiry.
"Any proper investigation must be about more than just procedures," the two said in a joint statement. "It must establish the facts of what exactly went wrong in the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Department of Justice, as well as at Cabinet level.
"It must tell us who knew what in those offices, who did what or who failed to act appropriately and, in that way, assist the public in making an informed judgment as to whether or not there were any failures of political responsibility. This includes establishing why the management procedures set out for the AG's office following the Fr Brendan Smyth case in 1994 were not followed in the 'CC' case."
Consideration of the independent commission's report should be part of the terms of reference of the proposed All Party Committee on Child Protection, they said. Mr Kenny said that apart from this point, there was general agreement on the terms of reference for the all-party committee. Both Fine Gael and Labour are expected to take part in the committee.
The parties said yesterday that the committee should: review the criminal law relating to sexual offences against children; review the law in relation to child protection; examine the issue of the age of consent; examine court procedures in relation to child sexual abuse cases; consider the implications of the Supreme Court decision including the desirability or otherwise of a constitutional amendment in relation to the outcome of that case; receive and consider the report of the Commission of Investigation established under the Commission of Investigations Act 2004.
Mr Kenny and Mr Rabbitte acknowledged that they held different positions on the age of consent with Fine Gael believing it should be 17 and Labour favouring 16.
The two leaders also published a copy of a letter they are sending to the DPP asking him how many prosecutions for sexual offences are pending under the legislation which was struck down by the Supreme Court. This was because, according to Mr Rabbitte, they had sought this information seven times in the Dáil but it had been refused.