Maria Corrigan (Fianna Fail)

As colleagues have noted, this is probably one of the most distressing debates to have been held in the Seanad Chamber. I am pleased, however, to have an opportunity to make a contribution to the debate. Before doing so, I place on record that I have a professional association with a religious organisation.

First and foremost, the Ryan report is about little children who had their childhoods savagely taken from them. These victims of rape, injury, torture and humiliation were condemned to forever pay a price for actions for which they had not one whit of responsibility. The price they must pay has resulted in shattered lives and has left a legacy of never-ending pain, torment, hurt and anger. Life is precious and we have only one shot at it.

Of all the tragic chapters in Ireland's history, the Ryan report is testament to one of the saddest and most shameful. Words are not sufficient to pay tribute to the courage of those who came forward to speak out and tell their stories. One cannot read the Ryan report without feeling the start of a deep burn of shame underneath the sadness, horror and anger. The behaviour of some members of the religious orders responsible for the care of young babies and children was abhorrent and criminal. Terrifying in its depravity, cruelty and lack of humanity, it betrayed the trust of people and violated the Christian principles by which the church instructs us to live. This behaviour has tarnished the good work done by many religious people.

The debate that emerged in recent days regarding reopening the agreement with the religious orders has inflicted another hurt on those who have already suffered and it should not have been necessary. Organisations such as the religious orders which frequently hold out to us the right thing to do should have known immediately what was the right thing to do and they should have done it. In this respect, I acknowledge the courage of Father Tim Bartlett in speaking out on the issue and the subsequent statements by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Cardinal Seán Brady. This debate should not have been necessary.

While the focus in recent days has been on the religious orders, we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from our culpability, responsibility and shame. The Ryan report is a concrete testament to and acknowledgement of the suffering of the children who resided in the institutions covered in the inquiry. We must keep in mind those whose lives were so shattered by their experiences that they were too broken or debilitated to tell their story. The report is important for them also and, as the Minister of State pointed out, we must also remember those who are no longer with us.

The strength of public resolve following the publication of the Ryan report is such that we have an opportunity to make meaningful reparations to those who have suffered. The focus of such reparations must be on people rather than money and any future plan emerging from the report must be people led. We must do everything in our power to ensure the victims have the best possible quality of life from now on in order that they can achieve the best possible level of well-being. Most important, we must support them to find some degree of peace from the torment that will forever be with them.

I welcome the commitment to implement in full the recommendations of the Ryan report. When the relevant plan has been drawn up I ask that it be first presented to the victims and, thereafter, to the Oireachtas. If necessary, a special sitting of the Houses should be arranged. That is the least people deserve from us, their representatives.

I welcome the appointment of a deputy Garda commissioner to ensure criminal charges are pursued. The crimes described in the Ryan report were carried out on children who were vulnerable and whose vulnerability seems to have had at its root poverty, broken homes or families who had experienced the death of a parent. Today, we still have vulnerable children in our midst, although the reasons for their vulnerability may be different. I welcome the commitment that we will learn from this report and apply this learning to ensure such events do not occur again.

While I do not want to repeat what my colleagues said, we must grasp the opportunity to do something concrete and meaningful. We have an opportunity to create a positive legacy to the Ryan report, one which will owe its creation to the courage of those who told their stories.

I propose to raise a number of issues, including a number that will require changes in legislation, structures, supports and mindsets. While I am aware that other issues also arise, I will focus on a number of specific matters while the Minister of State is present. As I and many other Senators have stated on many occasions, we have in place a most peculiar arrangement whereby residential facilities for children with disabilities are exempt from inspection. This exemption is unacceptable and intolerable. While I welcome the steps taken by the Health Information and Quality Authority in establishing an inspectorate, inspections for residential facilities for children with disabilities must be introduced as quickly as possible.

The Ryan report noted that industrial schools continued here after our nearest neighbours in Britain had moved away from institutional care settings and towards placement in family homes. The lesson we can learn from that experience is that institutional and formal residential settings should be the place of absolute last resort for a child. Our priority should be to ensure the placement of children in family settings because we know such settings are much more conducive the development and well-being of children.

Some welcome legislative changes have been introduced in recent years. For example, children are now supported in giving evidence and testifying in cases of abuse. An issue remains, however, regarding the implementation of these supports for children with disabilities. I ask that this matter be addressed as quickly as possible.

Dual placement is the practice whereby children are placed in various settings with adults. It occurs in psychiatric institutions, prisons, as Senator Mary White pointed out, and some institutions for people with disabilities. While I accept the number of such institutions is decreasing, children with disabilities continue to be placed in institutions alongside adults.

While I am conscious we are discussing children, another vulnerable group within society for whom there would be similar concerns and issues is adults with disabilities or mental health challenges or who have acquired an age related illness. No inspectorate is in place for any of the residential settings for these people and I ask that this be addressed as quickly as possible.

I welcome the commitment to implement the guidelines regarding allegations of abuse. When it comes to their implementation in the case of vulnerable adults, especially those with an intellectual disability or mental health challenges, as demonstrated by the most recent report from Tipperary, there are considerable challenges and concerns as to how to proceed. Sometimes the nature of disability and the concerns about reliability, capacity and credibility can result in delays and confusion on how best to proceed when allegations are made which results in vulnerable adults being left increasingly vulnerable.

Residential facilities for children under the care of the HSE, including non-national children and especially those who are unaccompanied minors, are exempt from inspection. There is the issue of more than 300 children missing from the care of the HSE. We need procedures in place to follow this up. We need to know where these children are and whether they are safe.

We need to look at the reunification procedures in place for unaccompanied minors. They are not in the best interests of the safety of the children. We need to send out a message on female genital mutilation. I ask that we would get confirmation from church leaders that no member of a religious organisation who has been the subject of an allegation has been reassigned to a Third World country for missionary work.

All our schools are public schools. We need to tighten up on the procedures for substitute teachers. Not only must they be qualified, we must never allow a situation whereby a substitute teacher who has not been the subject of a Garda check can take a class of children by himself or herself. Unfortunately, that is the situation at present.

Following the publication of the report I am sure there are people experiencing shame and anguish who knew or who had an inkling of what was happening but who, for whatever reason, were ineffective in their intervention or perhaps made no intervention. It is essential for the future that we put in place a clear mechanism for alerting people to what constitutes abuse and where or who they can contact if they have concerns. The shame initiated by this report shouts of the onus on each of us to ensure we play a role in maximising the protection of children.