Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The first thing the House should do is record its appreciation to Mr. Justice Murphy and his colleagues on what appears to be an insightful and coherent report on a terrible chapter in our history, and record its appreciation of the immensely courageous work of people such as Colm O'Gorman and his colleagues in One in Four who lobbied for this inquiry and did so much work to assist it.

Most people will be shocked that the institutional church was used as a cover for child abusers and shocked by the facility with which it ignored the professional advice made available. This House should hang its head in shame because we turned a blind eye to this appalling period in our history. When the Taoiseach says our task now is to ensure the abuse does not happen again, one must ask how we can be sure it is not happening now given the stark picture that is revealed of the shortcomings in our child protection system.

Does the Taoiseach agree it is important that the recommendations of Mr. Justice Murphy be implemented as speedily as possible and that the shortcomings in our child protection system be addressed? Does he agree that there should be public joint hearings on the report, its implications and recommendations involving the Select Committee on Health and Children and the Select Committee on Education and Science and that they should be held as soon as possible?

Does the Taoiseach agree that the campaign by One in Four for the creation of an offence called "reckless endangerment", to be applied where it is known that people in authority who interface with children are a threat to those children, ought to be committed to by Government? It ought to be created because the Criminal Law Act 1997 abolished all distinctions between felony and misdemeanour crimes and the offence of misprision of felony, concealing a crime — as is the case here — no longer exists.

In November 2002 the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform gave a commitment to my colleague, Deputy Costello, that he was finalising proposals to put to Government for a similar inquiry in the Dublin diocese. Where stands that inquiry now?

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