It does not give me great hope when I read the comments of Leo Varadkar in the Dail where he sympathised with Ana's parents and the parents of the murderers in the same sentence.

Me neither.
The parents of those boys should be taking a long hard look at themselves, and the home life and the example of how to be a boy and a man that they encouraged and provided should be examined very closely. I am sure there are many lessons to be learned in how not to bring up a boy.
12,000 pornographic images. WTF???
What sort of home life and environment do you provide for a child who thinks even one is ok? What kind of example did the fathers of these boys offer to them?
I am all for parents being held partially responsible for the actions of their children under 18. The boys' parents are not victims here. They brought up two boys who are basically, from what I can see here in my armchair, psychopaths.
The boys were asked initially in their interviews if they could distinguish right from wrong and gave answers that were coherent from a verbal point of view. But their actions and their behaviour and leanings demonstrated very clearly that they did not know what right and wrong meant at all when it came down to decisions on a day to day basis.
Maybe a bit of poking might reveal that they felt considerations of right and wrong are suspended or not applicable when it comes to treatment of girls and women? That would not be surprising.
I foresee a lot more gruesome rape/murder crimes in Ireland because of the general culture of objectification of women and girls and the acceptance of rape culture, lazy parenting, and refusal to confront porn. This is the tip of the iceberg.