Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

The reality is that the patron system is still in place in the vast majority of schools.

I would like to use the short time available to me to speak about the role of the State, particularly in respect of mandatory reporting. Members of the House have received copies of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children's most recent report, which mentions that mandatory reporting has been advocated in no less than five reports over the last 15 years. It was recommended in the Law Reform Commission's report on child sexual abuse in 1990, the report of the Kilkenny incest inquiry in 1993, the Kelly Fitzgerald report in 1996, the report of the Madonna House inquiry in 1996 and the Ferns Report in 2005. We have seen 15 years of inaction on foot of the reports, however, as no legislation has been presented to the House. No steps have been taken at political level by any of the Governments which have been in office during that time, to provide for mandatory reporting. The failure of successive Administrations to take action in this regard is a terrible indictment of our political system.

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