Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I remind the House of the circumstances which give rise to the motion before the House. In November 2002, an RTE "Prime Time" documentary reported on child sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin. The programme made a number of disturbing assertions as to the inadequate way in which allegations and complaints of sexual abuse by priests of the archdiocese were handled, for example, the priests in question were simply moved to another position without people being informed of the reasons for the move.

It is universally recognised that child sexual abuse is not only morally reprehensible but also a particularly serious crime. It is my duty and that of the Government and Oireachtas to protect the most vulnerable members of our community who cannot protect themselves. This applies with particular force to our children. Child sexual abuse is associated with a range of adverse long-term effects such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and relationship problems. Characteristics of the abuse suffered, such as the type of abusive act, the duration of the abuse and the degree of physical or psychological force used, influence the severity of its effects. These effects extend well beyond the abused individual and can have a significant impact on "secondary" victims such as family members of the abused and the abuser.

Furthermore, parents of sexually abused children often feel guilty because of a perceived failure to protect the child. It is also recognised that where child sexual abuse is perpetrated by an authority figure such as a clergyman, its impact on the victim can have additional consequences such as alienation and a loss of faith, both religious and in people.

In addition to the grave psychological damage which such abuse may cause, the criminal offences involved are of the utmost gravity. It is important to emphasise that complaints of sexual abuse are fully investigated by the Garda Síochána and all efforts are made to bring the perpetrators to justice. A significant number of clerical perpetrators of sexual abuse have been convicted following Garda investigations and many of them have served or are serving custodial sentences. Irrespective of any form of investigation that might be undertaken, it is a priority that every effort is made to ensure that anyone who has engaged in criminal behaviour of this type is brought to justice.

In light of the disclosures in the "Prime Time" programme and elsewhere, I announced my intention to introduce legislation for a new procedure which would, among other things, enable a detailed and focused investigation into how church and other authorities dealt with allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy and religious. I introduced the Commissions of Investigation Bill in 2003 and, on foot of this legislation, the Commissions of Investigation Act was enacted in July 2004.

A further significant development was the establishment in March 2003 of the non-statutory Ferns Inquiry into the nature of the response to allegations of child sexual abuse by priests operating under the aegis of the diocese of Ferns. The inquiry's report, which was presented to the Minister for Health and Children on 25 October, contains a number of valuable recommendations.

Under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004, a commission of investigation may be established by the Government based on a proposal by a Minister, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, to investigate any matter considered by the Government to be of "significant public concern". An issue giving rise to significant public concern is one that is of more than mere interest to the public or more than just the subject of vigorous political debate. It must, instead, be an issue which has profound implications for life in our society. The Government and I are satisfied that an investigation into the handling of child sexual abuse allegations against the archdiocese of Dublin comes within that category. The sensitive nature of the subject matter and the need to ensure the fullest confidence in and compliance with the investigation means that a commission of investigation, backed up by the statutory powers available to a commission under the 2004 Act, is the appropriate vehicle for investigating the matter.

It would not be appropriate for the Garda Síochána to investigate this matter as it is the handling of complaints or allegations of child sexual abuse rather than the allegations of abuse themselves which are being investigated, and this would involve matters which may not in themselves have been criminal offences. In addition, in investigating the handling of complaints or allegations, it may well be that the handling of complaints made to the Garda Síochána might itself require investigation. For these reasons the Government is of the view that the establishment of a commission of investigation is required.

The report of the Ferns inquiry made a series of recommendations on the lessons which might usefully be learnt from how such complaints or allegations were handled in the past and which will result in improved child protection. The inquiry's view was that the recommendation of the 1996 report of the Irish Catholic bishops' advisory committee on child sexual abuse by priests and religious, entitled Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response, on the reporting of child sexual abuse is one of the most important and has had the most impact on the church's handling of this problem in the past nine years.

With regard to the procedure of holding regular high level meetings between the diocese of Ferns, the Garda Síochána and the Health Service Executive, which is called the inter-agency review committee, the inquiry saw this as having considerable merits and was of the view that the procedure should and could be adopted in any case in which continuing problems arise concerning child sexual abuse.

On 25 October, the Government accepted in principle the recommendations in the Ferns Report and gave a commitment to its implementation by line Departments and relevant agencies. The Government also authorised the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to write to the Irish bishops' commission to ask it to ensure individual and collective compliance with the inquiry's recommendations and to request the Health Service Executive to liaise with individual bishops to ensure implementation of the recommendations. The Minister of State consequently wrote to the president of the bishops' conference and the Health Service Executive on 26 October with particular emphasis on the 1996 guidelines and the inter-agency review committee.

As a further step in ensuring compliance with the inquiry's recommendations, the commission should undertake two further tasks in addition to investigating the archdiocese of Dublin. Following a notification by the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children that a diocese may not have established the structures or may not be operating satisfactorily the procedures set out in church guidelines, whether the 1996 guidelines or any subsequent ones, the commission of investigation should examine the position in that diocese. Following a notification by the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children that a diocese may not be implementing satisfactorily the recommendations of the Ferns Report, the commission should examine the position in that diocese.

The motion before the House is a necessary prerequisite to the establishment of the commission. The motion seeks approval of the draft Government order providing for the establishment of a commission of investigation into two matters: the handling of allegations of child sexual abuse against clergy operating under the aegis of the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin, and examining the implementation of church guidelines or the recommendations of the Ferns Report in a particular diocese if the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children requests the commission to do so.

The draft order contains a schedule setting out a statement of reasons for establishing the commission, as required by the Commissions of Investigation Act. A similar motion will be brought before the Upper House. The draft order sets out the terms of reference for the commission. The commission of investigation is being established to:

(a) select a representative sample of complaints or allegations of child sexual abuse made to the archdiocesan and other church authorities and public and State authorities in the period 1 January 1975 to 1 May 2004 against clergy operating under the aegis of the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin;

(b) examine and report on the nature of the response to those sample complaints or allegations on the part of the authorities to which those sample complaints or allegations were reported, including whether there is any evidence of attempts on the part of those authorities to obstruct, prevent or interfere with the proper investigation of such complaints;

(c) in the case of complaints or allegations being examined, to examine and report also on the nature of the response to any other complaints or allegations made by the complainant or against the person in respect of whom those complaints or allegations were made, including any such complaints or allegations made before 1 January 1975;

(d) select a representative sample of cases where the archdiocesan and other church and public and State authorities had in the period 1 January 1975 to 1 May 2004 knowledge of, or strong and clear suspicion of, or reasonable concern regarding sexual abuse involving clergy operating under the aegis of the archdiocese of Dublin;

(e) establish the response of the archdiocesan and other church and public and State authorities to those sample cases;

(f) establish the levels of communication that prevailed between the archdiocesan and other church authorities and public and State authorities with regard to those sample complaints, allegations, knowledge, reasonable concern or strong and clear suspicion;

(g) examine, following a notification from the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children that a Catholic diocese in the State may not have established the structures, or may not be operating satisfactorily the procedures set out in the 1996 report of the Irish Catholic bishops' advisory committee on child sexual abuse by priests and religious, Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response, and any subsequent similar document, the position in that diocese; and

(h) examine, following a notification from the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children that a Catholic diocese in the State may not be implementing satisfactorily the recommendations of the Ferns Report delivered to the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children on 25 October 2005, the position in that diocese.

I draw the attention of Deputies to a number of points about these terms of reference. The commission will investigate the handling of two categories of cases in the archdiocese of Dublin. It will investigate the handling of cases where specific complaints or allegations were made and it will investigate the handling of cases where, while there were no complaints or allegations, there was knowledge, strong and clear suspicion or reasonable concern of sexual abuse.

The commission will cover a specific period from 1 January 1975 to 1 May 2004. While I am aware of the arguments for not having a period of time specified, it is a more productive use of the resources available to proceed in that way. To give the commission an open-ended remit would make it almost impossible for it to complete its work within a reasonable timeframe. In addition, the further back in time one goes, the more fragmentary would be the records on the handling of cases by the archdiocese and, consequently, the more difficult the task of investigation would be. The most important task is to draw lessons from the mistakes of the past to ensure that nothing similar happens again.

The terms of reference specify that a representative sample of cases will be examined. The important word here is "representative". It will be incumbent on the commission to examine the cases which come to its attention, whether through an examination of documents and records it discovers or as a result of advertising for persons to approach it and, having examined these cases, choosing a sample which is representative of them. The terms of reference specify that where a case is among the representative sample, all complaints and allegations by that complainant are also examined. They also specify that all complaints and allegations against an alleged perpetrator named in a complaint or allegation being investigated will also be investigated.

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