Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I will pick up where I concluded. I welcomed the report and asked that everyone take it seriously. I also made the point that this debate is about fairness, but there are many other issues which must be dealt with and I hope that, in time, the discussion can be broadened.

I noticed a statement during the week by a constituent of mine and former vice president of Fianna Fáil, Mr. Michael Stokes, that in the unusually direct intervention by the State in church matters, the Taoiseach, Deputy Ahern, told the Dáil that the law of the land applies to all, irrespective of their status. When announcing the decision to hold an inquiry into clerical sex abuse in the archdiocese of Dublin, the Taoiseach described child sexual abuse as abhorrent. I make that point because so far in the debate there has been a little bit of church-bashing. I believe we should remain focused. I made the point this morning that many churchmen throughout the State who are still doing their job deserve our support.

However, I support fully those who have been abused and hurt. It is important to help and seek out people who have not yet sought redress. In that regard, like other colleagues, I received correspondence in recent days from the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The document is entitled Another Brick From the Wall, which seeks the introduction of mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect in Ireland. It is important for all of us to take account of that document. We should support those who look after children. As I said this morning, the children of the nation deserve our strong support. Many vile acts were unaccounted for over a long period. Much of what we are discussing happened during other decades but it is important to ensure that nothing we would be ashamed of in the future is going on behind closed doors today. I would hate to look back in a number of years and discover the abuse was still taking place.

It is important to have this debate and I welcome the opportunity to contribute to it.

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