Good grief - he can.

Reading the Government's latest lazy lies about the Vatican.  Clearly a lot of work didn't go into that response.  It's pretty much "I don't care what you say, I still think you did it" school of drafting.  Read it below:

Statement by the Government of Ireland on the response of the Holy See regarding the report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne:

The Government of Ireland thanks the Holy See for its response of 3 September regarding the report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne (the Cloyne Report) and the representations made to it by the Tánaiste in this regard in his meeting with the Apostolic Nuncio on 14 July 2011.

The Government acknowledges and welcomes the statement in the response that the Holy See is sorry and ashamed (I knew the Holy See shouldn't have used that phrase - looks like a bad translation from something else) for the terrible sufferings which the victims of abuse and their families have endured. The victims of abuse and their families must remain foremost in our considerations. (except attacking the Church will remain foremost).

Having considered carefully the Cloyne Report and the response of the Holy See, the Government of Ireland remains of the view that the content of the confidential letter in 1997 from the then Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Storero, to the Irish Bishops, regardless of whether or not it was intended to do so, provided a pretext for some members of the clergy to evade full cooperation with the Irish civil authorities in regard to the abuse of minors. This is a matter of great concern to the Irish Government.  (Even though the Cloyne Report presents no evidence to support this opinion and Kenny's government in 1997 was still opposing mandatory reporting.)

The Government of Ireland notes the comments in the Holy See’s response on the political debate which ensued in Ireland after the publication of the Cloyne Report and in particular the statements made by the Taoiseach and other political leaders. The Government of Ireland must point out that the comments made by the Taoiseach and other political leaders accurately reflect the public anger of the overwhelming majority of Irish people (as generated by the Government and its friends in the media - what percentage of the Irish people read the report?) at the failure of the Catholic Church in Ireland and the Holy See to deal adequately with clerical child sexual abuse and those who committed such appalling acts.

It is the Government of Ireland’s hope that, in spite of outstanding differences, lessons have been learned from appalling past failures. In this regard, it welcomes the commitment in the concluding remarks of the Holy See’s response to a constructive dialogue and cooperation with the Government. In welcoming this commitment the Government expects the fullest cooperation from the Holy See (the arrogance is quite extraordinary - we've accused you of managing rape, used bogus quotations from the Holy Father to make him look bad and now we expect full cooperation!), the Catholic Church in Ireland and all other relevant bodies with a view to ensuing that Ireland is a society fully safe for children and minors and that all of those with responsibility for the welfare and care of children in this country are fully subject to Irish laws and requirements (By which of course they mean the attack on the seal of the confessional).