Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

It is an indictment of the Government and unacceptable that, despite promises made by the Taoiseach and Ministers following its publication, two all-party Dáil motions, the outpouring of hurt and anguish from victims of institutional child abuse and repetitive apologies from the church, State and religious organisations, nothing to date has visibly changed. Other than the Government meeting representatives of victim organisations and the religious congregations, it is impossible to identify any meaningful substantive action it has taken in the wake of the report's publication.

Within four weeks of its publication, the State vigorously defended in the High Court a case taken by a victim of abuse, resident in England, seeking a time extension to apply to the redress board for compensation. Instead of wasting taxpayers' resources on solicitors and counsel to defend the indefensible, the redress board and the Government should have allowed the man to apply for redress or, at a minimum in light of the all-party motion, sought to have the proceedings adjourned for a short period while they addressed the overall issue of extending time to potential applicants to apply to the board. The motion referred to this specific issue.

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