Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to participate in the statements on this very important issue, the development of child welfare and protection services. I commend my party colleague and Front Bench spokesman, Deputy Shatter, on all the work he has done on behalf of the victims. In recent years, as a result of the bravery of these victims, the true extent of the abuse and the neglect inflicted on children in the care of church and State in this country has been revealed, and it is shocking.

The commission set up to inquire into child abuse reported in 2009 that sexual abuse was endemic in State-run institutions for boys and girls and that children lived a life of daily terror, having been beaten over more than five decades. The report is a sad indictment of church and State authorities who were in charge of these institutions. No matter where one travels outside Ireland now, one finds the recent media reports on the Catholic Church have been broadcast on televisions all over the world. Ireland is one of many European countries where this has happened.

The commission, during its investigations, heard harrowing cases of abuse from people. Almost 2,000 children spent their childhood in 216 institutions in the country, mainly between the 1940s and the 1980s. We then had the publication of the Murphy report into sexual abuse in the Dublin archdiocese. That report found that 320 children were abused by 46 priests in that diocese between 1975 and 2004. The Murphy report concluded that one of the biggest tragedies of the abuse was that children were not listened to or believed and that those in authority were covering up. It is extremely worrying that even as far back as 20 years ago these children were not believed. I am thankful that things have changed.

None of these investigations would have been possible, and the true extent of the abuse would never have been revealed, were it not for the bravery of the victims who have spoken out. I salute those victims for their courage, which has struck me whenever I met them. Many other victims are suffering in silence and may never be able to speak out. Children who are abused carry the scars with them for the rest of the lives. It is a life sentence for many of them. I have met many of these victims in more recent times, and it can be seen in their faces that they carry scars.

So many children have been destroyed by abuse. It is not only in institutions that abuse takes place; it also takes place in family homes, and many people are afraid to speak out about it. Our Constitution, and the 1916 Proclamation, promise to cherish all our children equally; however, even today, many children in this country are at serious risk and are being let down by those in responsibility who are charged with looking after them. The reports into the deaths of two young teenagers, which were first published by my colleague Deputy Shatter, point to the fact that the safety of children who are under State care is still not guaranteed. That is why I welcome today's discussion. I have no doubt that were it not for Deputy Shatter's action in publishing the first of these reports, the HSE would have dragged its heels and the official reports would never have been published.

These vulnerable children were let down by society and by the fact that we do not have an adequately resourced, 24-hour social service to deal with cases such as these. Our social services are of the fire brigade type; they do not have the resources to be anything else. Last week, the Government's special rapporteur on child protection, Geoffrey Shannon, called for an independent review of social services for vulnerable children. Does the Minister of State support this view and, if so, when will he set up this review? It should be set up immediately.

Between 2000 and 2008, approximately 7% of unaccompanied minors dealt with by the HSE went missing. That is extremely worrying. Between 2000 and 2009, a total of 501 children went missing from the care of the HSE. Only 67, or 13%, of these children were retraced. Twenty-two unaccompanied minors went missing from State care in 2008; only five of these children were later located. In 2007, 32 children went missing, only 12 of whom were traced. Again, it was required for Deputy Shatter to publish the joint protocol agreed between the Garda Síochána and the HSE for dealing with children who go missing in care. This is a serious problem, and there is concern that some of the children who go missing are trafficked and subjected to sexual exploitation.

There have been several investigations, and report after report has been published, but little has been done to deal with the situation. Many organisations have introduced clear child protection policies and established clear guidelines on reporting cases of abuse. There was a high-profile case in the UK a few years ago in which the caretaker of a school abused and murdered two children attending the school. It is good that clear guidelines have been established on the reporting of abuse.

Garda vetting is part of that process, and something to which I draw the attention of the Minister of State. As a result of the increased demand for vetting, more than 400,000 applications are received each year. There is a major backlog, with applications taking anything from four to 12 weeks to be processed. I urge the Minister to ensure this procedure is speeded up. Employers use the procedure to ensure that individuals convicted of abuse or other crimes are not employed or offered other positions of responsibility in working with children, young people or vulnerable adults. Voluntary organisations are availing of this service. The Garda Vetting Office in Thurles needs more resources to deal the large volume of cases. I appeal to the Minister of State to bring this matter to the attention of his colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern.

Children's perceptions of the system which has been set up to protect them are not good. The report on service users' perception of the Irish protection system found that children who used the system found it to be "unsympathetic". Calls to the ISPCC's Childline service increased by almost 25% last year. This in itself speaks volumes. Childline received more than 815,000 calls last year but, unfortunately, was able to answer only 512,000 of them, an answer rate of 62%. According to Childline, there are thousands of children who continue to suffer abuse, and services are not in place to assist these children and their families. Many children in this country continue to be denied their basic human rights. In 2010, it is a sad indictment of this country. Many speakers have raised the importance of holding a referendum on children's rights. I urge the Minister to give a clear commitment to hold this referendum and to inform the House when it will take place.

The Government needs to commit more resources to addressing this major challenge of protecting the most vulnerable people in our society. When we fail children, it is extremely sad. It is up to the State, and us as legislators, to make sure we protect them. As the Minister of State said in his final words, it will require commitment, imagination and hard work to assist these children.

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