Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

The Murphy report is incredibly important. Its implications go far beyond examination of the institution on which it was focused, that is, the archdiocese of Dublin. It raises some fundamental issues. The response of all Deputies who have spoken thus far have begun, and rightly so, with the position of those who have suffered. There are some matters to which we should return. The question is how much change is necessary and likely, and how much we can demand.

Those who suffered, in many cases, suffered because they were poor and lonely, which made them vulnerable to extraordinary breaches of trust by a number of individuals who have been named. However, there is not a shadow of doubt that the names in the report are but a sample of abusers throughout the country.

On the suggestion that canon law can take precedence over State law or that silence invoked by a church can damage the rights of citizens, we need more Deputies to state they are in favour of breaking such a relationship. I find it absurd that the papal nuncio could serve as the dean of the diplomatic corps when, in an institutional sense, his predecessors have refused to answer matters of concern within Ireland.

Apart from that failure, I find the allocation of the post in that way is inappropriate and wrong. I have been a spokesperson on foreign affairs for probably a longer period of time than anybody else in the House. The convention in a number of other places is for the longest-serving ambassador to serve as dean of the Diplomatic Corps. That is something which should happen, but it is a minor issue compared to the remarks I wish to make.

In looking through the report, I note a number of things took place. I turn to one of the strange assumptions upon which the report is based. Towards the end of part 1 of the report, there is reference to a document called Child Sexual Abuse: A Framework for a Church Response, which was published in 1996, and is regularly referred to as the "framework document". Chapter 8 of it refers to people who are being recruited into the priesthood and paragraph 8.2.2 states

Formation is progressive, and must be evenly balanced between the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. The whole process of formation of candidates for the priesthood and religious life should foster an integration of human sexuality and the development of healthy human relationships within the context of celibate living.

As I have only ten minutes, I will confine my remarks to say that I would like to see any research which suggests one could achieve the objective of such a balance while meeting the requirements of celibate living. It is a matter for the organisation itself. However, I would be dishonest if I did not say it was an issue it must examine as a source point of what is contained in the report.

I wish to lay my cards on the table. As well as the victims, there are others who have been wounded. There are many people who have a spiritual life and for them it is a source of great importance. I listened with great care, for example, to the sensitive speech of Deputy Catherine Byrne. Many people such as Deputy Byrne - perhaps the majority of people who are not materialist extremists - believe in a form of spiritual life, which has been badly damaged by the actions of the people referred to in this report. There are many priests and nuns who are dealing every day, at this time of a broken economy, with distressed communities and people in poverty and isolation, and their work has been badly affected by this behaviour.

This report concentrates on the secrecy that was invoked and the priority attached to such secrecy over the responsibility of citizenship and compliance with the State and its Constitution. On page 24, section 1.93, the report states that a number of very senior members of the Garda, including the Commissioner in 1960, regarded priests as being outside their remit. There are examples of gardaí reporting complaints to the Archdiocese instead of investigating them. It is fortunate that some junior members of the force did not take the same view. There were suggestions that when complaints were made from outside the jurisdiction to the Garda, those responsible went straight to the Archbishop's palace with them rather than acting on them. That is serious.

I have been long enough in the House to have seen some of the people mentioned in this report in various referendum campaigns. They were out there in front arguing that we were representative of a fall from ethics and belief. In fact, they were militants when it came to these campaigns. There are people in this House who are on record as being opposed to the Stay Safe programme in schools. Let us be realistic about this. What is changing? Will there be changes in the Garda? Will there be changes with regard to those lay bishops who are all over the place on school boards of management and who, on the basis of their own version of what the church is doing, refuse to implement the Stay Safe programme?

In a recent by-election, when canvassing with a colleague, I heard Cardinal Connell say he was not one bit interested in politics. This is a great pity because what he was doing was quite political. On page 52, section 3.46, it is stated that he said, "Well, I think the Commission will have to accept that on my first meeting of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I took an oath that I would not reveal what was discussed at meetings of the Congregation and I will of course be as true to that oath as I am to the oath I have taken here." I do not accept that because Cardinal Connell has retired he does not have to answer questions, but equally I do not accept that the public and legislators, who are required to have a view, should not express their views on the appropriate relationship of church and State. It is perfectly clear from my own writing that I have the greatest respect for spirituality, but I respect the independence of the Constitution and I believe in its republican nature. The church does better when it is accountable to the State and the Constitution and there is a degree of dignified separation between them.

Page 53, section 3.51, gives a list of the powers and responsibilities of the papal legate. I do not mean to insult anybody, but the role often included informing the Apostolic See about the conditions in which the particular churches found themselves, as well as about all matters which would affect the life of the Church and the good of souls. Therefore, when the choice arose, how was it a choice?

I will return to something I said here around the time of the Kennedy report. It was known in two Departments that a boy had been flogged on the landing in Daingean. However, when a young civil servant wrote to the head of his Department asking what should happen, the two Secretaries General corresponded with each other and said it would be better if this did not come out. What this report tells us is that the unaccountable, secretive, retinue of abusers were well known and insured against. What was important was preventing scandal rather than addressing the rights of the child. This included institutions of the State such as administrators of justice, lay people, schools and others. The awful side of it was that the child who was wounded and had to deal with people in any of these institutions was told he was a liar. He was already poor and perhaps lonely, as so many children were. I met them when I was in the MacBride commission. They went on to have terrible lives; some of them ended up in prison.

It is not just a matter of noting this report. Those involved must say that they, as part of something that was so rotten, must now leave, and something new must be built.

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