The husband of a woman who was repeatedly raped and abused by her stepfather has described his attempt to get help for his wife.

Catherine, who bore five children to the man dubbed the Irish ‘Josef Fritzl’ recently spoke out about her ordeal.

Despite numerous attempts to get help, the HSE and Gardai failed to protect her or her children.

The Children’s Minister has repeated his offer to meet the woman.

However, Barry Andrews says the HSE have been unable to intervene in the case.

He also said he has asked the HSE for information on the case, and that he’s open to doing whatever is necessary.

“These allegations are very much at the very serious end of abuse -there’s no question” the Minister said.
In an interview broadcast on Moncrieff, James, Catherine’s husband, said that despite reports to Gardai, no action was taken.

He said “The Guards did an excellent job the first time around…but when it leaves their office it goes to the DPP’s office. But he just said no, and that’s wrong.”

He continued “My feeling is they had never come across something like this before”.

The Chief Executive of One in Four has said the story of “Catherine” highlights the huge failures that exist in our child protection system.

CEO of One in Four Meave Lewis has said earlier today that the system that operates here has failed ‘Catherine’ and her family.

“This is a complete disgrace that Catherine had to go on national radio to highlight her case” she said.

Lewis added “From what she says, she’s been trying for years to bring her plight to the attention of the authorities -both the HSE and the Gardai. It’s just not good enough”.

Gardai are now re-investigating the case of the woman.

You can listen to all the interviews relating to this story as broadcast on Moncrieff on our website at http://www.newstalk.ie/featured-three-media-player/catherine/