Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I dtosach báire, ba bhreá liom an tAire Stáit a fháiltiú go dtí an Teach. Is díospóireacht tubaisteach í an díospóireacht seo, i ndáiríre. Tá gach éinne atá tar éis dul i ngleic leis an méid atá sa tuairisc seo croíbhriste de bharr an méid a tharla do dhaoine óga. Ba chóir go mbeadh na daoine is laige i gcroílár an tsochaí. Ba cheart go mbeadh cosaint ar fáil dóibh, ach an mhalairt a bhí fíor. Tá géarghá le machnamh a dhéanamh ag an am seo.

This report makes for sickening reading. It is difficult to find the right words at a time like this other than to reiterate the sorrow, anger and shame we all feel. A storm rages around us. The publication of the commission's report is having a devastating effect, and rightly so. At one level it seems strange, though, considering that so much was already known about the horrors of life in the institutions run in decades past by the religious orders. It seems, however, that the consolidation of this catalogue of evil has reawakened in many people their well established sense of shame and sorrow. This is especially so in that this should have happened for many of us within our church and society, where we would have wanted to see a greater example of love and care to be given by definition. In some hearts there is even a desire for vengeance, which is understandable too.

Two examples from this report stick out for me as being particularly tubaisteach. They exemplify some of the horror of what went on. One example concerns the disparity of treatment accorded to lay abusers. On a number of occasions where there were lay abusers within these institutions, the gardaí were sent for promptly and action was taken. On many other occasions, however, there was clearly a failure to act properly in the same institutions when the abuser in question turned out to be a member of a religious order.

Another example struck me perhaps because we are talking at a time when we have been reflecting a lot about our economy and the greed that has led to the current crisis. It is truly scandalous, however, to think that greed may also be part of this story. The Ryan commission's report claims, for example, that there was a movement by the orders to keep the institutions open in the early years of the 20th century. They had an interest in keeping their numbers up for revenue reasons, which is truly scandalous, heartbreaking and profoundly unacceptable.

It is difficult to find anything like the required calmness, balance and precision, but it is important to say something for those people of faith in particular. Our first thoughts are for the victims of abuse, but it is important to note and to put on record the profound heartbreak of people of faith in particular. This is precisely so since they love their church so much and because this happened under the watch of agencies working within their church. There are feelings of humiliation that those in leadership in the church should not only have failed to rise above the cruelty of the times but also that they exemplified it on occasions and on many occasions they exacerbated it. I am speaking here not only of the people who perpetrated abuse but also of those who presided over the institutions. This is the damning thing about this report, that time after time one sees that people knew what was going on. I was struck in particular by a line about the Rosminian Order which, unlike other orders in their dealings with the commission, at least sought to understand the abuse. However, the report notes that other congregations sought to explain it. Therefore even at the investigation stage there was a failure to accept the reality of what went on. We see many examples of occasions when not only were people aware of abusers on the staff of these institutions, but they were also moved to other institutions. In some cases they were allowed to continue to work for many years, even though their propensity to abuse was well known.

It was particularly tragic that in one institution so much hardship — I am not speaking of sexual abuse — was imposed on children who had to work under a regime of extreme drudgery manufacturing rosary beads. The contradiction at the heart of that defies belief.

There are feelings of helplessness and indignation. There are also feelings of indignation when one thinks of how the reputation of the entire church has been affected, not just of the orders in question, but also of the many good people who have worked and continue to work so well and generously and very often for nothing. People who love God and their neighbour get forgotten at a time like this. There are also feelings of indignation because the huge unpaid contribution by the religious to social justice for the betterment of the disadvantaged in our society gets left out of the equation, perhaps understandably but no less painfully at a time like this.

I must be honest and say that there are feelings of indignation when we see people using the current wave of anguish and anger as a wedge to advance a separate political project. I noted what Senator Norris said and I think he was referring to me when he thought he was accused of anti-Catholicism earlier. Given the tragedy of anti-Catholic bigotry that blighted life in Northern Ireland for so many years, I would regret if it were to raise its head again under a different guise, particularly under provoking circumstances such as these. I would be doing less than my duty as a public representative if I did not view and note with concern attempts to prosecute a different political agenda on the back of the horror and anger we all feel, and a certain lack of respect for the facts on occasion as people seek to do so.

Yesterday in this House, for example, my colleague Senator O'Toole raised the matter assuredly and informatively because, he said, the Ryan report made it clear that the Vatican was used as a place for orders to lodge files that they do not want to make available to the Government. This is a serious claim indeed, but it is a claim without any solid basis. Anyone who takes the time to read the Ryan report carefully, which, I submit, is what every public representative should do, will see that there are no references on any occasion to Vatican files. What are mentioned are the important files that were kept by religious congregations in Rome, which happened to have, and do have, headquarters in the city of Rome in the Italian jurisdiction, precisely because the Vatican is based there.

This highlights the need to educate ourselves about topics we choose to speak about, particularly when we choose to speak about them so fervently and authoritatively. This is not an attempt to water down the horrors of what is in this report. It is morally wrong, however, to seek to take advantage of the anger of these unique and dreadful days to push a separate agenda. It was in that context that I would be critical of Senator Norris for raising section 37 of the Employment Equality Act. I am really disappointed that the Minister sees fit, as he said, in light of the current circumstances, to review that section, because it has nothing to do with child protection. It has nothing to do with any one church. Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, negotiated at European level and implemented in our legislation, merely guarantees that religious run institutions, be they educational or health care institutions, can run these institutions according to their ethos when making employment decisions. That is a matter of protecting freedom of conscience. Even if I am wrong about the substance of the issue and the desirability of section 37, surely I am not wrong in saying that it is wrong to use these tragic times as the lever or wedge to open up that particular debate. It amounts to saying that because Catholics and non-Catholics are disgusted at the behaviour of some — indeed, many, I have to say, tragically — members of our church, we are going to use this opportunity to attack religion and the free practice of religion in our society.

Senator O'Malley talks about the separation of church and State, and she is absolutely right to do so. However, the group of distinguished American visitors in the Visitors Gallery would tell her that separation of church and state is about protecting church and state.