Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I support the amendment. I am very conscious of the fact that it relates to a drafting error. Restrictions on victims should never be an option when dealing with child abuse and institutions. I still have major concerns about how victims were treated over the years. Many people are under the impression that child abuse took place 20 or 30 years ago. From a legislator's point of view, we must be vigilant when dealing with the victims of child abuse. In recent days, we have all heard the horrific story of how a young 11 year old girl was treated. It is very important those involved in child care, in the teaching profession and in forming legislation, are conscious that such abuse exists all the time. There are many dysfunctional families crying out for help every single day. We come across some of them in our clinics on a regular basis.

All the people involved must be constantly vigilant. Young children should be able to seek help from the social services. I speak as someone who worked in the primary education sector for over 20 years and who dealt with child abuse cases. Some children found themselves in circumstances where the only friendly face was a teacher doing yard duty. It is important that victims are treated with respect and dignity. A number of Deputies raised this issue in other amendments. Victims of vaccine trials should have been allowed to bring their cases to court.

I hope we have learned about children in institutions. The system was flawed, major mistakes were made and major damage was done to children. We should stand back and pay tribute to the adoptive parents in Ireland. In the past 60 to 70 years, children who did not go to institutions were adopted by families and the vast majority of them were looked after very well. Adoptive parents rescued many children. Many of these children are now adults and are leaders in Irish society. Sometime adoptive parents feel angry because they are excluded from the debate on adoption, yet they were the heroes who rescued children from institutions.

I commend Senator Ryan for noticing the drafting error. There should not be restrictions on anyone.

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