Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Like many of my colleagues, I also begin by paying tribute to all those who came forward to speak to the inquiry and outline the appalling abuse they suffered over a number of years. As the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, said, these courageous people have offered the inquiry, and Irish society as a whole, a crucial, though harrowing insight into the nature and extent of this problem and the lasting trauma that undoubtedly it can cause.

The witnesses who came forward have shown the strength of character and courage which has also been evident to all of us who met with survivors of abuse over the years. I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to them because, without their statements, the report would not have been compiled.

As others have done, I pay tribute to Mr. Justice Murphy and his team. As well as increasing public awareness and understanding of the horror of child sex abuse the report he and his team has produced provides practical and far-reaching recommendations to strengthen child protection measures. Their extremely beneficial work must be recognised. I pay tribute also to a former Member, George Birmingham, an eminent senior counsel who did a preliminary inquiry which laid the foundation for this inquiry. He deserves a great deal of thanks from all of us.

I preface my remarks by offering a word of support to those priests who have done no wrong. They too deserve our support and sympathy at this difficult time. They have been badly let down by a small number of their colleagues in a most evil fashion. I too welcome the statement by the church authorities that they intend to introduce the inter-agency review as well as the current Ferns model in all areas. I was heartened to hear two members of the Catholic hierarchy, Bishop Willie Walsh of Killaloe and the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Diarmuid Martin, this morning putting to rest any lingering doubts we might have about the earnestness of the Roman Catholic hierarchy's wish to co-operate with all the inquiries. If there was any lingering doubt about the primacy of State law over Canon Law, I hope it has been laid to rest. I think there was some concern in certain quarters that the tenets of Canon Law may, in certain circumstances, take primacy over State law.

The Ferns Report makes for some extremely disturbing reading. The stark reality of the abuse suffered by children and young people and the lack of support and assistance provided to these people at their time of greatest need was in a culture of secrecy, bullying, dominance and over-bearance by the clergy involved in this horrific abuse. The victims, children of all ages, suffered the most awful forms of sexual, physical and psychological abuse at the hands of these clergy. Furthermore, they suffered in silence. Betrayal and inaction on the part of the church meant the church placed the protection of the most vulnerable below their concerns to protect themselves and the church. Were it not for the courage of people such as Colm O'Gorman we would probably still be in the area of guesswork.

The report has had a major effect on the country as a whole. People are appalled, shocked and dismayed at the extent of the abuse outlined and the lack of response by those in charge. Its content has struck at the very core of our society, particularly given that those who carried out the abuse were figures who held responsible positions in society and who commanded trust and respect from all of us. It is clear from the report of the Ferns Inquiry that there was a general failure to recognise the terrible hurt and damage child sexual abuse can and does cause to victims and their families. Deputy Keogh cited one example but one can read other accounts whether families were broken and children were no longer trusted and loved by their parents in some cases. It is clear that prompt and effective action was not taken to protect vulnerable children over a period of many years. It is clear that child protection was way down the list of priorities.

As a society we must learn from the mistakes of the past and never allow what happened then to happen again. Our job in Government and as Members is to protect those within our country who cannot protect themselves. There have been shortcomings in the past. However, the abuse that has come to light in recent years and is so starkly outlined in the Ferns Report dictates that it simply cannot continue.

Developments have occurred under successive Governments during the past 15 years which have gone a considerable distance towards protecting our children. Educating our children on this type of abuse has been a priority of Government and the Department of Education and Science, in particular, in ensuring a high level of awareness and the necessary skill to address child protection issues is maintained in all schools. The Department has introduced child protection guidelines for primary and post-primary schools and has clearly defined procedures for reporting allegations or suspicions of child abuse. We have also sought to raise awareness of the issue in the school curriculum through the very good social, personal and health education and Stay Safe programme. It is a matter of concern that there are some schools that are not in a position to implement the Stay Safe programme. Whatever reticence there is should be addressed and clear positions should be adopted for the implementation of the programme.

The programme aims to reduce the vulnerability to child abuse through the provision of excellent in-service training for teachers, parent education and personal safety education for children at primary level. The programme aims to provide children with the skills necessary to enable them to recognise and resist abuse and teaches them always to speak out about any situation they find unsafe, threatening or abusive. It is a personal safety and skills programme which can be used with school children from senior infants to sixth class. It seeks to enhance children's self-protective skills by participating in lessons on safe and unsafe situations, bullying, touches, secrets, telling and strangers. Deputy O'Sullivan raised the issue of bullying. That is one area that is not sufficiently addressed in the Stay Safe programme and may have emerged as a bigger issue since the Stay Safe programme was first drawn up. Notwithstanding these developments we cannot be complacent and must continually strive to put in place better safeguards to ensure the levels of abuse outlined in the Ferns Report can never happen again.

The youth work sector, the non-formal education sector, has led the way. I pay tribute to the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy de Valera, who has overseen the introduction of first-class training programmes for youth workers, both full-time and volunteers. Organisations such as Catholic Youth Care in Dublin, the National Youth Council, the National Youth Federation and others, including the scouting organisations, have introduced programmes. If nothing else, such programmes can reassure participants, young children and young adults and especially parents that children are not at risk when they participate in out of school education. The practical guidelines have been touched on by a number of speakers. Nonetheless it is important to address them over and again.

On the issue of vetting procedures by the Garda, whatever resources, training or overarching mechanisms are required should be given to the Garda to ensure, in respect of those who work with young people, whether in a residential or community setting, that under no circumstances can a situation be allowed to develop where, because of trying to spare a few euro under a particular budget, somebody will suffer the satanic type of abuse outlined in the Ferns Report.

The fundamental imperative of all our actions must be the protection of the child. It is the duty of the Government to ensure that child protection practices are in place, stay in place and are continually monitored. Our duty as a Government and as a nation is to ensure these protection practices operate to the highest possible standard. If such horrific actions are to be prevented in future we must all work together to ensure every possible area is covered and that all recommendations are enforced.

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