Dáil debates

Thursday, 11 June 2009

Ryan Report on the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Motion (Resumed)

 

2:00 pm

Photo of Seán HaugheySeán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this significant debate. Any person who has looked at Mr. Justice Ryan's report or, more likely, has read newspaper coverage of its contents cannot fail to have been moved by the harrowing accounts of what transpired in the institutions mentioned therein. That it was the State which was responsible in many cases for referring these children to the care of these institutions makes this all the more disturbing and difficult to accept.

The Government has responded quickly to the publication of the Ryan report and the Taoiseach has sincerely apologised, and rightly so, to the victims of childhood abuse, on behalf of the Government, the State and all its citizens. No doubt there may be some, religious and lay people alike, who will regret that at the time they never spoke out or acted on what they may have known to be occurring or, indeed, suspected may have been taking place in some of these institutions. For all, there is the dawning realisation that nobody came to the rescue of these children.

The Ryan report was one of a range of measures introduced to address the abuse issue. It has 20 formal recommendations, which the Government has readily accepted. Of primary concern among these is the recommendation that the Government concede that abuse of children occurred because of systems and policy failures and because the management, administration and senior personnel who were concerned with industrial and reformatory schools were found wanting.

The Department of Education and Science, too, must accept its responsibility for failing to police these schools in a satisfactory manner. I add my own words to those of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy O'Keeffe, who extended his sincere and profound sympathy to all the victims in industrial and reformatory schools. Specifically, the State has accepted that the areas in which there were failings include funding, inspections and complaint handling, together with education and training.

Some progress in this regard has been made. An important change was introduced in September 2006, with the requirement to vet any person being appointed to a teaching position who has not been employed in the school system in the previous three years. This change also applies to other occupations that involve interaction with school children, such as special needs assistants, school bus drivers, caretakers and so on. Consideration is also being given, in conjunction with the Garda vetting unit in Tipperary, to how vetting of existing education staff working with children may be achieved.

The establishment of the Education Finance Board was also a welcome development which was initiated to provide grants to former residents and their families to avail of educational opportunities. An Origins information and tracing service has received hundreds of applications and is assisting those who left residential care unaware of the existence, or details, of any other family members. The provision of a dedicated counselling service and funding for a number of victim support groups for information and referral services for former residents, is also welcome.

The Residential Institutions Redress Board is totally independent of the Department of Education and Science. It makes its own recommendations and the State pays the recommended awards. The criteria governing the granting of awards by the redress board remains unchanged and ongoing claims will continue to be dealt with in the normal way.

The media has played an important role in highlighting the issues of concern to the victims of childhood abuse, particularly in publicising the findings of the Ryan report. I urge them to confine themselves to the issues. While it may be newsworthy to highlight individual buildings and institutions mentioned in the report, care should be taken to ensure that this does not bring unwanted publicity and attention to another innocent party. My constituency of Dublin North Central was the location of the Artane industrial school. In its enthusiasm to cover the Ryan report, some newspapers have included photographs of the Artane building as it is today. It is currently the home of a highly regarded post-primary school, St. David's Christian Brothers school, CBS. St. David's is a major secondary school in my constituency. Unfortunately, some newspapers, in taking recent photographs of the Artane industrial school have included the name of the school, St. David's CBS, in the published photographs. That brings unwanted attention and it may draw unwelcome comment from people who may not be familiar with the historical nature of the report. I have been contacted by constituents who feel aggrieved that St. David's may become inadvertently embroiled in the current controversy even though it only availed of the facility after the industrial school had long been closed. Given that the issue of institutional child abuse is such a sensitive one, it is incumbent on the media not to bring unwanted attention on other parties, be they educational or not, simply because they are currently housed in buildings which may have featured in the report. That is just a small point but an important one to put on the record.

Of equal importance is the issue of balance in dealing with the religious congregations in their totality. In the interest of balance and historical accuracy it is important to remember the good work those various religious congregations have undertaken in social, educational, medical and sporting spheres over many decades, while at the same time highlighting the horrors outlined in the Ryan report. Many of us have benefited from an education provided, in full or in part, by a religious congregation or are indebted to them for the care provided in a religious-run, medical institution. Nobody should lose sight of the valuable contribution the religious institutions have made to Irish society in many areas.

That is not to diminish in any way the horror of the abuse that went on in institutions in the care of some of those same congregations. The issue of whether the indemnity agreement can be reopened has received considerable attention. In my view the Government was correct to call on those same congregations to provide substantial additional voluntary funds in view of their moral responsibility in those matters. Some individual congregations have been forthcoming with a willingness to consider providing additional resources, and it is the Government's demand that more will follow.

The Government has highlighted the sense of shame many people feel at the findings of the report. It has agreed to consult with survivors of institutional abuse with a view to establishing a memorial to all victims, which will contain the words of the former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern's apology in 1999. That is a welcome step and will, I hope, help to further the healing process for the former residents, if healing is possible at all.

It also needs to be stressed that it was the Government that facilitated the establishment of the redress board and the commission's report so that former residents who wished to do so could tell their stories. The commission is to be commended on its work and the co-operation of former residents also acknowledged. With a view to the future, a number of additional measures in the area of child welfare and protection have been introduced. The national guidelines on child protection, Children First, are currently under review and it is hoped to include in that review the recommendations of the Ryan commission report. A new Minister of State with special responsibility for children and young people has been appointed, Deputy Barry Andrews. There is also now an independent system of inspection of State-run care facilities.

I wish to raise another important issue that highlights the Government's commitment to the protection of all children, namely, the publication of the national action plan to combat human trafficking. The plan is a framework of measures already implemented or areas requiring further action, and is the Government's response to tackling one of the worst crimes possible worldwide, namely, the trafficking of people, including children. With the recent focus on the care of children, following the publication of the Ryan report, it is encouraging that the plan deals with the protection of other vulnerable children. Key protection for child victims include counselling and debriefing together with a multidisciplinary assessment of each child's needs and a plan of care. The bringing to an end of the practice of accommodating children in hostels and the placing of those children with families in local communities may also prove a progressive step.

It is evident that any response to the commission report can never fully compensate victims of abuse for all the pain and suffering they have endured while in the care of those religious congregations. However, the Government has apologised for past failings and is committed to a child-centred approach to policy formulation, including robust inspection processes. It has also stated its commitment to make recompense to victims for what they have suffered. However, as evidenced by our recent past experience, it is the responsibility of all of us to be alert to the dangers that exist, and to do all in our collective powers to highlight and eliminate any possible risk to the welfare of any child.

I welcome the significant contribution made by the Taoiseach this morning. I also welcome the significant contribution made by the Minister of State with special responsibility for children and young people. We are having an excellent debate that is constructive and reflective. Such a debate is necessary at this time. I hope that following this two-day debate we can move forward and do what needs to be done, implement the recommendations and ensure that something like this never happens again.

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