Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Apologies for being late; I had another meeting. I welcome the witnesses. I was not aware of the issues, to be quite honest. They are not acceptable and such crimes need to be punished. The duty is on the State and us as legislators to make sure that happens, that we support people like the witnesses, and that we put whatever resources need to be put in place to ensure this does not continue. The crux of it is in putting the proper reporting mechanisms in place and ensuring procedures are in place to deal with it.

It is fair to say the Government supports are not there. What supports do the witnesses believe need to be put in place? Apologies if this question has already been answered.

The Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, is looking at the issue of vetting. It might be a good idea for organisations to make a submission to her and the Department. This is something about which she is proactive in changing. As one of the speakers just said, a minuscule number of the figure of 9,000 people mentioned will have been convicted. Reports have to made and it takes years for cases to get to court. Some never get to court. All these things need to be flagged within that system. It might be an opportunity now for the witnesses to make a submission on Garda vetting and changes that need to be made. It may be one of the simple asks. I read the document and there were a significant number of asks, but if the witnesses were to say what changes they wanted us as a committee to prioritise and have made, and with which we could go to the Minister and ask for them to be implemented now, what would they be?