Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to distil this matter down to the "RTÉ Investigates" programme and extrapolate what Deputy Rabbitte has mentioned about the reporting mechanism. If we accept absolutely the bona fides of those who bore witness on that programme and accept them as genuine witnesses, it is arguable that there was a failure of reporting in that instance. That bridges the divide between the historical and the current. If the complaints go back to 1987 and 1996 and people in 2019 are saying there did not appear to be a process in respect of their individual stories, one would have to contend that there is a failure of reporting.

Irrespective of the processes Scouting Ireland engaged in in 2012, the distinction it makes between the CBSI, SAI and the creation of Scouting Ireland in 2004, the start of the process, the Children First guidelines and the so-called review in 2012, all of those processes map across the narrative of the individuals who bore witnesses on the "RTÉ Investigates" programme. Having watched that programme, at a human level I would say there was a failure of reporting and a failure to deal properly within whatever protocols Scouting Ireland had designed post 2012 to deal with the trauma suffered by those people.

Does Mr. Tennant agree that is the case and that we are still dealing with failures of reporting? We all acknowledge what Scouting Ireland is trying to do with its new governance procedures. We all acknowledge the involvement of those 14,000 families. We represent them also; they live among us in our communities. We are very much aware of the good work that goes on in Scouting Ireland right down to troop level. At the same time, we need to be satisfied beyond any doubt that the system is robust. It is hard to be convinced that it is robust in light of the "RTÉ Investigates" programme.