David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

The Ryan report refers to a dark and dangerous time in our history, a time when our society was closed and when society, the Government and the Dáil of the day deferred to a dysfunctional church which was unquestioned and ruled completely. That, I put to this House was a dangerous situation, the results of which are known today.

The Dáil was weak at that time. I am not sure if this Parliament is much stronger today than it was then. We need to examine the role of the Dáil. No organisation - religious, State or private - should be above the law or beyond scrutiny. It is our job to scrutinise on behalf of the people. I believe this House is limited in terms of how it carries on its business and that we need to change that.

I have read only part of the report. I was sickened by what I read and could not finish reading of the unspeakable horrors, the stuff of nightmares, contained therein. I believe criminal charges should be brought against those involved, if possible. What happened has had a major impact on the people concerned and that such impact can continue for generations. While therapy and counselling services are important, therapy is not, as Deputy Higgins stated, enough. I agree also with him that justice is important.

I want to draw the attention of the House to the reaction of the Ombudsman for Children to the Ryan report. The ombudsman makes a number of points which I believe we should take on board, including that there is currently no independent inspection of residential centres for children with intellectual disabilities in Ireland, which is not good enough. Deputy Naughten stated - this is repeated by the ombudsman -that children who have come to Ireland from other countries and who are here alone without a parent or adult to look out for them are accommodated in private hostels operated outside of the regular child care system. Known as "separated children", they receive sub-standard services despite their vulnerability. It has been widely reported that more than 350 of these children have gone missing from care since 2000.

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