Margaret Conlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the House on this very important issue and I welcome the support of all parties for the taking of this motion and the way we are united in dealing with it. As other speakers have said, I believe this is the worst atrocity ever visited on our country and in global terms it is probably the worst atrocity ever visited on children. It is a litany of horrific abuse visited on young innocent victims. No one heard their cries, felt their pain or listened to their pleas for help. Instead, many who tried to voice concerns were told that little children should be seen and not heard. Given this, children were afraid to speak. They were afraid of the consequences that might result from what they had to say and of not being believed. The State did not cherish them equally and the congregations and the State failed in their duty of care. For that we are truly sorry.

As a mother and a teacher I can fully appreciate the very vulnerable position in which children are placed while in the care of what we deem to be responsible adults. The fact that these victims had no responsible adult representing their needs at any stage is shocking and indefensible. To think that children were left without something as basic as food is horrifying, not to mind the countless other abuses directed at them on a daily basis. These people were entrusted with young children and they abused that trust at every level and at every opportunity. It cannot be denied that the Department of Education at the time overlooked glaring problems and deferred to church authority. This should not have been the case and the reason it was allowed to continue was down to the simple turning of the head approach taken by too many in a position to change these dreadful acts to care for vulnerable children.

With all the information in the Ryan report it is extremely important that we have learned from the disastrous mistakes made by institutions in the past. We must take the right steps to ensure that crimes of this nature cannot be overlooked or pushed to one side again. The commission has carried out a thorough investigation and I want to salute the many courageous witnesses who came before it to tell their stories; for them it was a very difficult and traumatic experience but it was very necessary in allowing them to move on if they could do so.

I share the view of my colleague, Deputy Beverley Flynn, that all victims should be afforded the opportunity to tell their story. We owe them that chance to tell their personal story for their personal healing to begin. The victims in this report can never be forgotten and justice must be carried out at the highest level. The people involved in these heinous crimes must be identified and brought to justice like any other criminal would be and no one should be allowed to have the luxury of anonymity. They cannot be allowed to simply slide under the radar because crimes were not conducted today or yesterday. That is not an appropriate defence. The people we must continue to listen to are the victims, for these are people who for far too long were left without a voice.

As public representatives of the people, we must ensure that all of those responsible who are still alive are brought to justice. The religious orders also have a moral obligation to step up to the plate and ensure that they pay a substantial contribution as reparation for the heinous crimes committed because while the abuse may have stopped the memory and the scars remain. These children were robbed of the chance of living a normal life and for that we are all sorry.

I must pay tribute to the many good people who serve in religious life. They have a true vocation and have made and continue to make a real difference in the lives of many. These people should not be criminalised by the actions of some of their members because they too are suffering following the reign of terror and abuse visited on innocent children. Many of these children had suffered enough in their short lives through the loss of a parent or being separated from their families. They never asked to be born, they were brought them into the world and then we neglected and abused them.

Yesterday, outside the gates of this House I heard some of the contributions being made. They were distressing and heartbreaking but worst of all was the vision of the little shoes being left at the gates of the House with white ribbons and flowers. Anyone with a shred of feeling and emotion could not but be moved by the sight. We must never forget the wrong that was done and we must ensure that this is a watershed that is never allowed to happen again. The sight of grown men and women weeping on our streets yesterday will live with us forever. Many felt they had died in childhood as their innocence was taken away from them. Yesterday, we witnessed them finding their voice and they will not be silenced again.

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