Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

When the victims finally began to be widely heard in the media in the 1990s the State was compelled to accept its responsibility. The then Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, issued an apology and a redress scheme and commission of inquiry was established. However, even then the deference towards the religious orders was far from dead. The deal negotiated with the religious orders by the then Minister for Education, Deputy Michael Woods, on behalf of Deputy Bertie Ahern and the Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrat Government, was fundamentally flawed. The religious orders' contribution to the compensation scheme was capped while the State's was unlimited. That deal has now become totally discredited and the whole issue has been blown wide open again by the commission report. The former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, has attempted to defend the deal and has described its critics as "anti-church people". This is an insult to the victims and to all those who see this flawed deal for what it is. However, the former Taoiseach's intervention has made little impact, such is the public anger at what was done and such is the support for the victims' demand for justice.

All the recommendations of the commission report should be implemented. That is something we must collectively ensure and that is one of the commitments in the motion before the House. These recommendations focus on alleviating the effects of abuse on those who suffered in the past and preventing abuse of children in care today and tomorrow.

However, the Government must go further. It must address the need for truth and justice and recompense for those abused in institutions, both residential and non-residential, not covered by the Ryan report, because it does not address the whole picture. This includes the Magdalen laundries and institutions established after 1970. Justice must be done for former residents of Finglas Children's Centre, Scoil Árd Mhuire in Lusk, Trinity House, Trudder House and Madonna House. In the case of Trudder House, where many Traveller children were abused, there was one successful criminal prosecution. In the case of Madonna House, there was one prosecution and an inadequate investigation but no proper support for the victims. A former civil servant who worked in the Department of Education, tried to blow the whistle on one of these institutions but was ignored. Let it be learned from this day forward that when someone has something to say about the standard of care within the institutions under this State's control from this day forward, he or she is heeded and the information is acted upon immediately.

There needs to be full accountability and restitution from the religious orders. They need to fully accept their moral obligation to the victims. It beggars belief that up to a few days before the publication of the Ryan report, the Christian Brothers were still sending letters, written in a legal formula, to the Residential Institutions Redress Board, refusing to accept that children were abused in their institutions. The letter, from which I quote, states that [the order] "totally rejects any allegations of systematic abuse". Of course what the Ryan report clearly demonstrates, and without any possibility of challenge, is that abuse was systematic. It was happening throughout the system and the structures of the system were used to protect the abusers. If that is not systematic then what is?

After these letters emerged in the media last week, the Christian Brothers stated that their response had been, "shamefully inadequate and hurtful" and that since the publication of the Ryan report the order had accepted its culpability. One survivor spoke for many when he said that the Christian Brothers had only apologised after the publication of the Ryan report because of the strength of public opinion.

The Government should now initiate an independent international audit of all the assets of the culpable religious orders. I have made the point in this House before that this must include assets held abroad as well as their assets in Ireland. We demand the full and truthful picture. It has been claimed that many of these assets are lands and buildings currently used for educational and health care purposes. A full and open audit will test the veracity of that claim. The majority of hospitals, nursing homes, schools and other institutions in the ownership of religious orders or of Catholic dioceses, are funded by the State in any case. The bottom line is that whatever it takes to make recompense to the victims should be provided out of the assets of the culpable organisations.

The Government has to accept that the previous agreement was flawed and that it too has a moral obligation to ensure justice for the victims. The documents released yesterday to RTE, demonstrate once more the disgraceful nature of that agreement and why it must be scrapped and replaced. The whole issue of prosecution of offenders must be also addressed. Where prosecutions can be still taken, they must be taken and justice must be done.

The Government must act urgently to protect vulnerable children today. The woefully inadequate state of our child protection services has been repeatedly exposed. There are insufficient social workers and other front-line workers and support systems in place. The HSE knows of cases where children are in grave danger but the services are not in place to make the interventions required. The nightmare of child abuse is not a thing of the past; it is happening every day, including today. Most of this abuse takes place in the family home. If the services are not in place, the State today will be just as culpable as it was in the past when it conspired with the church to cover up the abuse of children.

I can only describe as grossly irresponsible the refusal of the Government to implement the first recommendation of the Monageer inquiry which was to establish an out-of-hours social work care service. A proper system must be put in place. It is disgraceful that key recommendations of the Monageer inquiry report have been censored by the Government. That report and its recommendations should be published in full, under Dáil privilege if necessary. The Ryan report documents a system of cover-up and secrecy. This should not be replicated in any way, especially in the Government's handling of a report such as Monageer which has grave implications for the safety and welfare of children today.

I conclude with this point. The separation of Church and State must be completed. In the Twenty-six Counties today, the State pays for education through capitation grants, teachers' salaries and a range of other funding. However, the majority of primary and secondary schools are not under democratic control; they are predominantly under the patronage of Catholic bishops and in the ownership of the Catholic Church. It is a legacy of the old era of ecclesiastical power and control. This must change and we must move to a democratically controlled education system, truly representative of the community, respecting the rights of people of all religions and none and totally child-centred.

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