Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I will respond to some of the items to which I had an opportunity to listen. The final point made by Senator Mullen on the employment equality legislation is very interesting and goes to the heart of how we order our society. The difficulty with Ireland is that we do not have a substantial parallel educational or health system that is non-religious; it is almost impossible in many parts of Ireland to access education and health services without crossing the threshold of a religious ethos. It has grown in this way and if were to start again we would probably start from a different point but we do not have this choice. I understand people asking why we do not apply the employment equality legislation and there is an argument to be made. Rather than it being an attack on a religious ethos surely we should have the confidence to know that it would enhance a religious ethos and parallel and match that ethos and give it a fresh authority. This is an interesting debate and it goes to the heart of many of the issues on which I have touched over the past year as the Minister of State with responsibility for children.

Senator O'Malley made a very passionate speech and I thought she captured the public mood, which is one of shock at the extent of the breadth and depth of the abuse and neglect of children over an entire century and almost certainly it went back to before living memory. Those tragedies will never be ventilated but the Ryan commission has done a great service to the State. The challenge for me as Minister of State with responsibility for children is to try to ensure it was not done in vain and that those who articulated their testimonials to the committees of the Ryan commission did not do so in vain.

Times have changed substantially since the period that the Ryan commission reported on. Our child welfare and protection services has gaps and I am the first to admit this. However, very substantial improvements have been made. In recent months we have had the enactment of the Criminal Evidence Act 1992, which allows children to give evidence by way of video conferencing; for the first time we have removed the trauma of having to give evidence live in court and Senator O'Malley referred to this. The Ryan commission was given power under statute to refer evidence that had come before it to the Garda if it was thought it might be of assistance in a prosecution.

The issue of anonymity forms a very interesting part of the Ryan report and is worth reading. Mr. Justice Ryan invited submissions from all interested parties on the issue of the anonymity of perpetrators and every submission stated it was highly problematic. Everyone acknowledged that it would lengthen the process very severely, in circumstances where many of the victims were elderly and whether they would be able to give evidence was in question. While they were agreed on this, they could not agree on a way forward so Mr. Justice Ryan took the decision to seek a change to the legislation on anonymity and this allowed him to report, albeit a full five years later.

I very much welcome last night's Government decision. It was based on the new information that has come out of the report and the much greater extent than was initially anticipated of compensation that has been paid out. I welcome the decision of some of the congregations to speak with the Government in the very near future. As Minister of State with responsibility for children, I intend to meet children's rights groups later this week to discuss their views on the outcome of the report and I hope to be able to outline to them the changes that have taken place, those that are in play and those which they think are additional and I will try to match them against the recommendations made by Mr. Justice Ryan. It will be very difficult for me to present that implementation plan but I am anxious that it will be done in full and I propose to take soundings from the Departments of Education and Science and Justice, Equality and Law Reform as well as my office.

As the Minister, Deputy O'Keeffe, stated earlier, we are all united in our abhorrence at the harrowing stories told in the commission's report and I welcome the all-party approach to dealing with the report. I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to the former residents who gave evidence to the commission so that a true account of what really happened could be given. To tell their stories was a very painful experience and I want to acknowledge their bravery. I also want to acknowledge those victims who are no longer with us but who were given a voice through the harrowing accounts given in the report.

The report makes it clear that from the State's perspective the abuse of children occurred because of failures of systems, policy, management and administration as well as of senior personnel who were concerned with industrial and reformatory schools. These children were placed in institutions by the State and the State had a duty of care to them. The victims were let down by the State and we must ensure this does not happen again. Children who are in care and detention rely on the State to identify their needs and provide appropriate, relevant and sufficient services in a timely manner.

Other children, who do not come into care arrangements, rely on the State to provide support services to them and their families so they can continue to live in their family environment. The HSE has indicated that since 2003 funding for family support services has increased significantly by 79%, foster care by 34% and residential by 7%. The smaller increase in residential care reflects the positive steps taken by the HSE on foot of Government policy in this area to prioritise foster care placements over residential care.

The agenda for children's services is the overarching Government policy for children's services and was published in December 2007. The agenda contains many of the key principles which are in line with the recommendations made in the report of the commission into child abuse, including that policy should be child centred and clearly articulated, methods should be in place to evaluate the extent to which services meet their aims and contact and involvement with family should be ongoing.

As the Taoiseach stated last night, the Government is fully committed to implementing the recommendations of the commission's report. The report contains 20 recommendations and there are other issues throughout the body of the report that require consideration. I will be developing a plan for the implementation of the recommendations which will include specific actions, a timetable for implementation, costings and any other associated implementation issues. I will bring the plan to the Government by the end of July.

I take this opportunity to thank the commission and Mr. Justice Ryan for all their work in producing this comprehensive report and I want to assure the House I am fully committed, as is the Government, to ensuring we learn the lessons of the past and that the recommendations are implemented.