Agency reaction:The Government must now act on the Ferns report and update child protection legislation if further widespread sexual abuse is to be avoided, according to One in Four, the organisation that supports men and women who have been sexually abused.
Arising from the 100 allegations of sexual abuse outlined in the Ferns report, just one priest has received a four-month suspended sentence and another priest has spent one year in prison, according to the director, Colm O'Gorman. He was speaking at a press conference in Dublin yesterday.
"This is a damning indictment of our criminal justice system," he added.
As a result of the Ferns inquiry, Mr O'Gorman said some people would face prosecution, but many would not.
He doubted Bishop Brendan Comiskey would face criminal prosecution for failing to act on his knowledge of clerical sexual abuse but that "it was a matter for the DPP if he will face prosecution for failing to co-operate with the inquiry".
One in Four initially called for the Ferns inquiry in 2002. Mr O'Gorman said it highlighted "enormous gaps" between existing child protection legislation and policy.
"The report made it clear that not only has this happened but that the scale of what happened is incomprehensible. In the absence of any change to existing legislation, it could happen again."
One in Four welcomed the inquiry's move to adopt its recommendation for a new criminal offence regarding the reckless endangerment of children.
Responsibility for the clerical sexual abuse in the Ferns diocese extended all the way to the Vatican in Rome, as outlined in the report, said Mr O'Gorman. The Vatican had operated an international policy that swore all those with knowledge of clerical sexual abuse to absolute secrecy under threat of excommunication.
Campaigners for children's rights have intensified their calls for the mandatory reporting of child abuse following the publication of the Ferns report. They have also called for children's rights to be enshrined in the Constitution, which is backed by the Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan.
Ms Logan said the report "makes it abundantly clear that children need to be protected at the highest level. Changes in policy and practice, to include inter-agency working, professional codes of conduct and care in the appointment of staff who have unsupervised access to children, are needed."
She supported a "culture of mandatory reporting" but with the caveat that appropriate supports be put in place.
She said children were reluctant to report abuse in the family because they feared they might be taken into care. What was needed was a child-centred "family welfare", approach that involved, among other things, counselling for both the child and the abuser in family abuse situations.
Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay called for the introduction of mandatory reporting, saying the needs of children must be put first. "Reporting known or suspected abuse should not be a matter of discretion for anyone. Instead it should be the foundation of a transparent and accountable system of child protection."
ISPCC director Paul Gilligan said compulsory screening of staff working with children was needed, along with a constitutional review of children's rights and the introduction of mandatory reporting. "The argument that mandatory reporting might drive abuse underground does not hold water."