Opposition parties have criticised the Government's handling of the report into the error at the Attorney General's office which led to the State being unprepared for the striking down of the statutory rape law.
A report by a senior Department of Finance official into the communications breakdown at the AG's office that led to the debacle was published today but not debated in the Dail on the last sitting before the summer recess.
The Green Party's Ciarán Cuffe accused the Government's of acting "despicably".
"This report is dated June 2006, yet the powers that be withheld the report until the final hours of the Dáil term in a cynical attempt to avoid being questioned on the findings," Mr Cuffe said.
He said the case had "far-reaching implications for a number of Offices of State" and called for an independent inquiry to scrutinise the workings of the AG's office, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Department of Justice.
Mr Cuffe's call for an independent inquiry was echoed by Fine Gael's Jim O'Keeffe, who described the report as "little more than a political whitewash".
He said the Government was afraid to hold an independent investigation and had "suppressed" a report into a failure "which led to one of the most significant crises in our criminal justice system for many years". "That is not the mark of a Government that has clean hands and nothing to hide," Mr O'Keeffe said.
Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the report "will not allay public concern about how the debacle concerning statutory rape law was allowed to happen".
The report said an error by an official at the AG's office led to the State being unprepared and it cleared Attorney General Rory Brady of any error.
Mr Ó Caoláin said: "It is hard to accept that all that was involved was an administrative error."
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said the report did not provide an adequate explanation for events that led to the temporary release a self-confessed rapist and may lead to the release of others.
"Rather than constituting a mere 'administrative error, such a failure represents a fundamental systems failure for which those with overall political responsibility for the Office of the AG - the Attorney General himself and the Taoiseach - must take responsibility," Mr Rabbitte said.