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Unpublished Tusla Report Shows Unassessed Sex Offender Cases in Laois

Wednesday, 14 August 2019 14:44

Several Tusla cases involving convicted sex offenders were among files found unassessed in Portlaoise.

Several Tusla cases involving convicted sex offenders were among files found unassessed in Portlaoise.

A unpublished report, seen by the Irish Times, shows a number of files requiring urgent attention were part of the backlog of hundreds of cases.

The independent review completed by Tulsa in May 2016 shows there were 81 disclosures from adults reporting alleged abuse that had take place when they were children.

Six of those cases related to convicted sex offenders which all required urgent assessment.

In late April 2015, the agency disclosed about 700 "previously unindentified files were discovered in the Laois/Offaly area".

The review also shows local staff had raised concerns about a growing backlog in the unsourced office as far back as 2013.

Janet Hughes, industrial relations expert, who carried out the report, concluded that many of the case files stored in a filing cabnet required urgent attention.

The review says "the crisis in Laois was part of an organisational failure,not a failure to recognise the existence of a serious problem".

It's unclear if anyone has been held to account over the huge backlog.

Jack Power, news reporter with The Irish Times, says an organisational failure to deal with the problem was found - but it doesn't appear any one has been held to account:

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