Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I welcome the publication of the Ryan report, which investigated the catalogue of abuse that took place in institutions, not least because for the first time since being elected two years ago, I am aware of the sombre air among Members, our staff and the staff of the Houses. For the past two years we have had debates and arguments about the economy and other issues that are supposed to be important. It is heartening that we have agreed a joint motion. We have heard expressions of emotion from all sides of the House. What has been said must be taken in good faith and that will be the case if the recommendations are followed up.

I salute the people who have come out to insist once again that the nation, the church and its congregations, and the Government Administration, acknowledge the injustice perpetrated on them as children. It has taken almost 70 years to uncover, expose and put at the heart of Government business the catalogue of institutional cruelty, abuse and exploitation of vulnerable children placed in institutions where they should have been safe. The abuse was mostly ignored by the Department of Education and Science, the church and the people. Despite the vision of the men and women of 1916 who wrote the Proclamation of Independence to "cherish all the children of the nation equally" and despite the fact that so many of us have heard stories of abuse of children in care, we - the people, the church and State - failed to listen and speak out to ensure that those people in need of care were cherished, nourished and educated without terror or physical, sexual or emotional abuse.

The publication of the Ryan report brings with it an essential commitment from everyone involved, namely, the community, the church, the nation, and the Government to ensure that the truth is told of the reign of terror, exploitation and abuse that existed in Christian child care institutions for abandoned children and reformatories. We must take it in good faith. We must also ensure that people who have lived through those circumstances are given the support and justice they need to heal the past and create a better future. We must also ensure that from this day on the children and people at risk are minded, supported and protected from further abuse or exploitation.

Since the foundation of the State, it has been the responsibility of the Government to ensure that all vulnerable children are not abandoned when help is most needed. That has not been the case and is not the case. This week, as every week, there is a lack of support services, or inadequate services, for those children at night or at weekends. The social services are doing a good job. Today's Irish Examiner focused on the report on the adequacy of child care. That does a service to the system, but unless the report is acknowledged and dealt with, it will have been futile. Most crisis calls are handled at night by the Garda because the HSE has decided for budgetary reasons against hiring the necessary social workers to provide 24-hour cover. Front line services are left to willing but untrained personnel in the Garda and an anonymously funded private holding centre that might be some distance away from where the crisis has arisen. In the spirit of the Ryan report, given that a poverty of resources is no longer an acceptable excuse, will the Department of Health and Children now put on the Cabinet agenda the commitment to a fully staffed 24-hour front line social service facility for at-risk children instead of the unsafe and anonymous arrangements that are in place currently?

One can get a fireman to put out a fire in one's house. One can access an emergency doctor. One can call a plumber in an emergency. The Garda operate at night. However, if a child is in need of emergency help, the only solution is to go to the Garda station. Despite the best efforts of the Garda, they will never be able to cope adequately in such a situation. That is evidence of a poverty of the spirit.

I question the priorities of the Government. I do not want to do that but I have no choice. I also question the priorities of the Department of Health and Children, which puts the budget for front line services at the bottom of the list. The adequate funding of those services must be on the Cabinet agenda so that we, as a nation, do not leave the same legacy of abandonment of vulnerable children resulting in adults who are hurting coming to this House to seek justice in 20 or 25 years' time. If we have learned anything from the horrific catalogue of cruelty, tragedy and shame uncovered by the Ryan report, it must be to ensure that from now on, no call for help from a child will go unanswered.

We have seen the catalogue of denial by the institutions and the failure of the State and its agencies - the Department of Education and Science and the health boards. That failure has resulted in carnage of the bodies, hearts and minds of so many children. Today, we cannot allow this denial of the needs of our children at risk. We must have the political will and drive to ensure that the National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children are underpinned with legislation to ensure we leave a legacy for a new generation that children will not be at risk.

It has been stated that for whatever reason children were in the past not born equal. Can we say that today they are? I do not believe we can. While I do not wish to criticise the Ryan report or any of its recommendations, I believe a truth and reconciliation commission, on the lines of the model used in South Africa, should be established here. This would assist in the truth coming out and in our revisiting the legislation with regard to redress, compensation and the manner in which the trust is to be set up. This is hurtful process.

Members will be aware of the work of the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. When chairman of the council, I opened an exhibition of the graffiti, art, advertising and slogans of both sides of the divide, an exhibition that went all over the world. The exhibition, which was silent, allowed people to confront their enemy in a gallery situation and was very effective. Some of the exhibits, paradoxically - not the most vilified or hateful ones - are now cherished as a reminder of a time no one wishes to go back to. I ask that a truth and reconciliation commission be established.

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