Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

To a great extent the topics we pick for debate in here, apart from legislation, are dear to our hearts more than anything else. I am glad tonight's joint motion in the name of the Labour Party and Fine Gael is about a topic everybody is interested in. The majority of people in Ireland are very interested in this motion because they have some connection with some child, whether a niece, nephew, child, grandchild or family friend. Most people are asking themselves how this litany of abuse could have continued for so long. It defies logic. In this case of Mr. Shine the abuse continued through the 60s, 70s, 80s and into the 90s. How could it have continued for so long?

One can consider where it took place. There is the awful barbarism of the women who are still suffering as a result of symphysiotomy and the Michael Neary case. How did that happen? Listening to the previous speaker, Deputy Neville, more people than the victims need counselling. These people thought it was more than likely that they were individual cases and nobody else was affected, because it is not something one readily goes out at night and speaks about to the person sitting next to one, man or woman. It must have come as quite a shock to them to discover quite a number of people were involved and there is a huge number of victims.

We should think about the parents of those young boys. We all know as parents we consider it our job, although it is an impossible task, to protect our children 24 hours a day. No matter what their age we expect that is our job. Yet the very person to whom these parents took their children to care for them abused their children. They must feel deeply hurt and must be remembered and taken into the equation on counselling and helped to get over this trauma.

Why did it happen and why did nobody stand up and say, "Stop"? These are questions we ask about the Ryan report, Michael Neary and, now, Michael Shine. I do not believe this happened in only one hospital. We have had our problems in Cork with a GP. There was no prosecution and it was drawn out for so long that eventually the DPP allowed it to drop. Women were, if not physically abused, psychologically abused by this man. We had a priest who was a chaplain and abused children in hospitals. We all heard the rumours telling us not to go to that guy or to go to another guy. Why do people not simply stand up and say they have their suspicious about a person? The "Prime Time" show told us very clearly why it did not happen: the one person who brought it to the attention of the authorities was ostracised.

When will we have protection for people who have suspicions and are prepared to come forward? When will we have whistleblower legislation? The Labour Party introduced it a number of years ago and the Government took it on board and buried it in committee. The people here tonight who are directly affected by this issue, which is only one of many, need to know. They are not here to ask that we shine a light on this, although it is very important. They seek an inquiry to ensure this never happens again. That is what it is about. We are all great on hindsight. It is about ensuring no child ever again has the experience these people had, and that if it does happen there is enough protection for people who suspect something might just be wrong so they can stand up and go to the authorities and report that they suspect something. They must be protected.

I hope the days of the deference, nodding and hiding when a consultant comes into a ward, no matter what that consultant is, are long gone. These are people who treat us when are sick; they are not gods.

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