The Taoiseach has said the actions of Bill Kenneally, the serial child sex abuser, were “reprehensible and horrific”, but there was “no evidence” of a cover-up within Fianna Fáil. A commission of investigation report published on Wednesday found Kenneally, who was a member of a well-known Fianna Fáil family, was given “objectively favourable treatment” when his crimes first came to the attention of Waterford gardaí in 1987.Speaking to reporters in Dublin on Saturday, Micheál Martin said he had called for a commission to be held into the handling of the case “nearly a decade ago”.“It’s very clear that the central conclusion of the commission of investigation is that there was a failure on behalf of An Garda Síochána at the time, in 1987, to deal adequately and properly with the presentation of issues and allegations in respect of Bill Keneally.”Martin said the report “does not implicate the Fianna Fáil party at all as an organisation and, in fact, makes the point that the Fianna Fáil party was not advised even locally or in any shape or form by any individual.“The report is clear there’s no evidence whatsoever of any conspiracy or any attempt of a cover-up, and that’s the evidence – we must allow the report to speak for itself,” he said.Kenneally’s uncles were former Fianna Fáil TD Billy Kenneally snr and senior local cleric Msgr John Shine. His cousin, the son of Billy Kenneally snr, is former Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Kenneally. The report said people in “responsible positions” – including Shine and Billy Kenneally snr – were aware of Bill Kenneally’s sexual abuse from as early as 1987 and were also made aware in 2001 that Bill Kenneally had continued abusing children after the late 1980s.[ State apology to be offered to Bill Kenneally victims after report detailing ‘abhorrent crimes’Opens in new window ]Without naming them, Martin said: “The two former public representatives involved did wrong in the manner in which they addressed the issue, no question about that.”The Taoiseach also said the Government was “organising time in the Dáil to debate this comprehensively”.Noting the report found that State agencies had “effectively failed the victims in terms of not dealing with this robustly and properly at the time”, Martin said the Government “will be considering an apology, and any further actions”.He added that Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan “will be meeting with the victims”. Kenneally – who sexually abused, tortured, restrained and blackmailed boys whom he had groomed and fed alcohol – made admissions of abuse to gardaí at that time but instead of being investigated he received a warning and a referral to a psychologist.The former basketball coach pleaded guilty in late 2015 and again in 2022 to multiple cases of child sex abuse in Waterford. He is in jail for the abuse of 15 children between 1979 and 1990. While the report found that the 1987 warning from gardaí had “changed” the paedophile’s behaviour, it “did not stop his sexual abuse”.Survivors have called for a public apology from the State for the assaults they suffered and for the “decades they were forced to fight for a truth that should never have been buried”. – Additional reporting: PA