THE Minister of State responsible for children has called for a national debate on mandatory reporting of child abuse. Mr Austin Currie invited interested parties, including the Catholic Church, to send written submissions to him by the end of April.
At the publication yesterday of a discussion document, Putting Children First, he said his "only bias is in favour of the child".
However, a number of organisations and Fianna Fail accused the Minister of indulging in delaying tactics, and said the arguments and consultations had already been gone through by the Law Reform Commission.
Mr Currie said "Nobody is suggesting that the introduction of mandatory reporting would serve as a panacea for the evil of child abuse. I am not presenting this discussion paper as the solution to what is a tragic problem. What I want to achieve in the best possible manner is to tease out all the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory reporting so that I can make a properly informed decision on the subject".