Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

Is the Minister saying that the Department of Education and Science has no information on the claims made by the One in Four group that children were taken out by abuser priests? It is not clear from her response. The One in Four group has suggested that children from a deprived or working class background were taken out. The governor of Mountjoy Prison often talks about the usual groups and communities from which people come. Many of the children abused at school went to institutions at which they were again abused and ended up in prisons where they were also abused. I am trying to ascertain the information the Minister has on the abuse that appears to have happened in the past.

The Minister mentioned the Ferns Inquiry and as a society we must learn from what happened in the past. However, if this information is not in the Department of Education and Science, should we look to abuser groups to place this information on the public record or should Departments such as the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Health and Children come out openly and accept the problems that existed in the past and hopefully learn from it?

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