Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

As a Deputy for Wexford, I am glad to have the opportunity to participate in this important debate. No document in my memory has caused more concern anguish and debate in my county than the Ferns Report. Since its publication two weeks ago it has rightly dominated public conversation and public discourse. It has caused the entire community to reflect on itself. It has required each of us in the community to examine how such terrible things could have taken place and how it could have continued for so long.

I do not believe that Wexford is especially evil — I know better than that. I know of the thousands of good, decent and honourable people who live there and of the good and decent priests and religious.

However, awful things did happen in my community, the details of which, unvarnished and brutal, are laid out in the Ferns Report. It shames us all that it happened in our midst and that society went on as normal with such hurt and evil flowing freely beneath the surface.

I listened yesterday to Colm O'Gorman, a voice of calm, sanity and reason from a man who endured much pain. He has played a pivotal role in exposing the truth. His approach is not vengeful, but hopeful and positive. The process of shining light into dark crevices is, and will continue to be, painful, but one lesson above all must be learned. All of us must listen and must believe. We have a great deal more listening to do. Some voices want now to move on, to close the debate as if we have heard enough. This cannot happen.

The first responsibility for all of us is to give space to the victims who at last have had their experiences told and believed. Others will be given strength by their courage and they too must be allowed a voice. It may take time, but we must construct an ongoing system to allow that process to unfold. We must also ensure our child protection systems are robust beyond doubt. I remember well the long debate in this House on the Child Care Act in the early 1990s. After the publication of the Kilkenny incest case, I was able, as the then Minister for Health, to resource that important legislation.

Deputy Twomey, my constituency colleague, mentioned the beginnings of change in the aftermath of the Kilkenny report, when there were resources at ground level to deal with, recognise and accept there were such awful issues as child abuse. They were not only real, but in many cases all too rampant. There are now new and clear recommendations in this report upon which we must act.

In the fog of debate about canon versus State law there must be no doubt that the State has the prime responsibility to protect all its citizens, especially its children. There can be no ambiguity about the responsibility of all citizens, lay or religious, to apply State law and to assist, without reservation, in the investigation of crime. Like most crimes of violence, what is clear from the cases so graphically set out in this report is the abuse of power. The Catholic Church, for so long the most powerful institution in the State, abused its power. While the prime responsibility lies with the perpetrators of these awful criminal acts, what is revealed is a powerful institution incapable or unwilling to deal with the terrible truth.

The response of Bishops Donal Herlihy and Brendan Comiskey is spelled out in detail in the report. While to judge the actions of people up to 40 years ago through the prism of today's state of knowledge and understanding can produce a false result, the failure to act effectively when knowledge was received beggars belief. What emerges is a parallel world where the church, its institutions and its priests exist in a separate world of accountability and responsibility. All of us allowed that parallel universe to exist and that level of power to be exercised. This must end now. There must be one standard applied universally in the Republic, through which all citizens will be afforded the same rights and have identical responsibilities. This is the position now accepted in the diocese of Ferns. It must apply everywhere in the State.

The actions of Bishop Eamonn Walsh, since he became apostolic administrator of the diocese of Ferns in May 2002, are commended by the inquiry team. The inquiry team points out that the procedures adopted by Bishop Walsh should be incorporated into the organisation and management of the diocese. That should apply not just to the diocese of Ferns but to all dioceses. However, I point out again that the State must determine proper procedures to be applied throughout the State by all its citizens.

In the days and weeks ahead, there will be scope to deal with many of the deep issues raised by some of the early speakers in this debate, for example, the position of the church — all churches — in influencing State policy and the role of the church in education. This debate is timely and must come soon. Today, however, we should deal with the report before us and its recommendations.

One recommendation is the institution of a new criminal offence relating to engaging in conduct that creates a substantive risk of bodily injury or sexual abuse to a child, or failing to take reasonable steps to alleviate such a risk. I welcome the Government's commitment to incorporate an amendment into the Criminal Justice Bill currently before the House to act swiftly to make this the law of the land.

We have had much debate on Garda vetting procedures, but they are still woefully inadequate. Many organisations dealing with children are begging for supports to enable them to ensure the children in their care are protected. Whatever resources and systems are required to do this must be provided without delay. New barring orders that will allow the HSE to apply to the courts to protect children from people with a propensity to abuse must be swiftly enacted into law. We must also conclude our debate on mandatory reporting. People have differing views on this, because there is a concern that it may prevent some reporting of awful crime. The position enunciated by the Minister of State in his opening remarks is wholly unsustainable, namely, that he wishes to have mandatory reporting without any law to provide for it. I hope he will act swiftly on all these issues of debate.

Much soul searching has gone on and is going on in County Wexford. It is inevitable that other communities will face the same issues in the future, as further necessary inquiries reveal our painful past. We must ensure it is the past.

For many young people, the Ireland of the 1970s and 1980s is an unknown land. A recent RTE programme examining the progression of social issues through this period reminded us who lived through it of the bitterness of some of the clashes. I remember all too vividly and well Fr. Seán Fortune's campaign on the 1983 constitutional amendment — his doll placed on the altar with red ribbons flowing from it. That era is over. We must ensure as a legislature that it truly is over.

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