The High Court has ruled that the report of the Commission of Investigation into sexual abuse allegations in the Dublin archdiocese can be published - but all references to one person must be removed. The commission investigated how clerical child sex abuse allegations involving a sample of 46 priests were handled by Church and State authorities in Dublin between 1 January 1975 and 30 April 2004.
Some of the cases involve men who are facing court proceedings.
Its report was referred to the High Court by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern in July.
Under the Commission of Investigation Act, the minister must seek directions from the High Court if it is felt the report could prejudice court proceedings.
Mr Justice Paul Gilligan ruled that the report could be published but that a specified part, Chapter 19, might prejudice court proceedings.
He directed that Chapter 19, or references in the report to the person who is the subject of Chapter 19, could not be published unless otherwise directed by the court.
His judgment lists 22 references to that person which must be removed before the report is published.
Justice Gilligan said this part of the report could be mentioned to the court again on 5 May next year.
Andrew Madden, a survivor of sexual abuse in the Dublin archdiocese, said he was very pleased the report would be published.
He said the commission investigated 46 priests so removing reference to one person would still allow people to examine the trends in the report.
Marie Collins, another survivor, said she was pleased the report would be published.
But she said she was disappointed it would not be published in its entirety.
Ms Collins said the purpose of the report was to show if there was a pattern to the way the archdiocese dealt with abuse and it would be difficult to establish that if certain parts of the report were not published.
Maeve Lewis of One in Four, a support group for victims of abuse, urged the Minister for Justice to publish the report quickly.
She also asked the Minister to give support groups some advance notice as to when he intends to publish.
A spokesperson for the Minister for Justice said he had always made it clear he wanted to publish the report as soon as practicable.
However, he said Mr Ahern would have to consider the High Court's written judgment.
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SIC: RTÉ