Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has conceded that Garda delays in acting on Interpol information about Irish involvement in a global child pornography ring may have resulted in the loss of vital evidence here.
However, he defended gardaí, saying they now accepted and regretted their mistake.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has ordered a review of procedures in the Garda's International Liaison Unit, where the Interpol transmission was overlooked at Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, last August.
Child protection group Barnardos described the delays as "a disaster". The ISPCC feared the Irish suspects would never be prosecuted.
Fine Gael said the incident was an "unacceptable lapse". The Green Party described the delay as "entirely unacceptable".
It has emerged gardaí will not be in a position for some time to begin investigating the two Irish suspects.
Specific information on the pair's computers has been requested from the Austrian authorities. The Irish Times understands the information is so technical it could take months of processing before the computer users are identified.
Mr McDowell said while human error was to blame, if people "working hard" made mistakes this should not always result in disciplinary action. "They appear to have gotten a letter from Interpol, and [to] have either forgotten the significance of it or else misread it. They took it to be a circular."
News broke on Wednesday of the Austrian-led Operation Flo investigation into the global child porn ring involving more than 2,300 computers in 77 countries.
However, gardaí at first disputed statements by the Austrian authorities that information had been sent to Dublin.
Yesterday an official statement was released by Garda Headquarters admitting the force was one of 77 international forces to receive a transmission from Interpol on August 22nd. The statement added: "It is regretted that it was not actioned at the time."
The internal Garda fact-finding review now under way will be conducted by Chief Supt Derek Byrne, head of Dublin's south central division.
Garda sources said the Interpol information was carried in one of 180 transmissions received on the day in question.
The same sources said more than 30 other countries had not responded to it. They believe this was because of the poor presentation of the information and lack of follow-up contact by the Austrians.
A spokesman for the Austrian police, Gerald Hesztera, said his force had followed normal procedures.
