Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Ba mhaith liom mo chuid ama a roinnt leis na Teachtaí Crowe agus Connolly. I wish to share my time with Deputies Crowe and Connolly.

Ms Justice Laffoy expressed a level of frustration rarely seen from the Judiciary. The Government's response to that frustration is beyond belief. It is clear from Ms Justice Laffoy's report that some of the religious orders were co-operative and others were far from co-operative, yet the Government seems to have entered into a financial accommodation which requires further investigation because it was not based on findings from the commission but rather to head off further embarrassment for the Government. This action may come back to haunt the Government.

I detect a deep sense of injustice as a result of the Government's handling of this matter. There is a wider sense of injustice than just the religious institutions and the horrific tales from Baltimore. The Government's lack of focus on the needs of children is a legacy which still needs to be addressed. Comparisons with other countries in such areas as playschool and crèche facilities, consideration of the safety of children in the matter of safety measures on roads, and maternity leave entitlement highlight the lack of priority given to the needs of children which still haunts Governments to this day. There is no comparison between the barbarity of what has been revealed and the treatment of children today, but children are perceived as second-class citizens and the reports of the Laffoy and Ryan commissions bear that out in an horrific way.

This is not just about finding the truth or introducing a measure to bring about redress. It is about dealing with these issues by stating clearly that children are central and should be afforded the importance of adults. When we speak of the brutality of the events being dealt with in the Barron or Nally reports, it is central that the Taoiseach should be involved. The Green Party has called on many occasions for a transfer of the child abuse inquiry from the sponsorship of the Department of Education and Science to that of the Department of the Taoiseach. When Patricia McKenna MEP reiterated this appeal on "Questions and Answers" last night, it was striking that Deputy Eoin Ryan responded by saying that the Department of the Taoiseach is too small. He said it would not cope with such a transfer because it does not have the resources to do so.

I am glad that the Minister for Education and Science has spoken about the need for his Department to take on additional resources. It is quite easy for a Department to take on extra resources as needs be. The Minister said that the Department took on an extra 16 persons, including six documentary counsel, on 10 March 2003. The Department of the Taoiseach could do the same, ultimately, especially as it has overseen partnership discussions, the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation and the Forum on Europe.

The Green Party restates the appeal to which I referred because this matter requires the Department of the Taoiseach to be centre stage. It should not be dealt with in smoky or smoke-free rooms by means of deals with the religious orders nor should it be compromised by being dealt with by the Department of Education and Science. If children are to be considered as first-class citizens rather than being seen as second-class citizens, which has traditionally been the case, this issue must be dealt with in the Department of the Taoiseach.

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