Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

It is appropriate that the motion before the House is signed by party and group leaders because the only acceptable reaction to this report is unity between us all to condemn the actions it exposes, support the victims and affirm our joint commitment to action. The report is very moving for me because I intimately know many of the communities which have been affected by this abuse. They are strong communities with a great spirit. They have vibrant sports clubs and family facilities. The Church has always played a significant role. It has been respected and valued by both people of faith and the wider community.

The undeniable facts in this report show a different picture of the Catholic Church in Cloyne. Abusers were allowed to use their status as clergy to carry out the most appalling crimes and the church's leadership in the diocese and in Rome showed a callous disregard for safety and the rights of the most vulnerable members of its flock. This was done not simply to avoid scandal. It went much further and involved a wilful refusal to respect basic moral and legal responsibilities.

The abuse of children should never take place, but where it does, simple humanity requires swift and resolute intervention. We do not need regulations to understand this fundamental morality. However, a significant framework of regulation and legal sanctions has been in place for a long time. No person within any organisation, be it public or private, has any excuse for not knowing exactly what to do when there is even a general suspicion of child abuse. The intervention of church authorities in undermining child protection rules in recent years is nothing short of an outrage and a betrayal of those who look to them for moral leadership.

When the evidence of their failures were exposed, the reaction of key Church authorities has given little assurance that they understand the scale and depth of the outrage felt by ordinary people. This is not something that can be dismissed as a plot by a secular elite against a church. In fact, most of the strongest views I have heard come from people who have great faith in the spiritual teachings of the church.

In my meeting last year with the Papal Nuncio, I made it clear that the Irish State expected the Vatican's full co-operation in the investigation into abuse in the Cloyne diocese and in all other investigations. Its defensiveness and focus on the institutional interests of the church rather than those of the children abused by its clergy and shielded by its leaders will continue to cause great damage.

We should acknowledge the stand of some church leaders, most especially Archbishop Martin. The church will only retain a place of importance in our society if his colleagues follow him in his impressive commitment to acknowledging and addressing the failure of the church over too many years.

The Ryan report exposed in great detail the systematic brutalisation and exploitation of children through many decades.

It showed what is probably the darkest chapter in our history as an independent State. Thousands of children who had the right to expect their State to protect and nurture them were abused in the most appalling ways within mostly church controlled institutions. The report has highlighted how the problem of abuse and institutional cover-up is not only a concern of the past but is also not something anyone can be complacent about.

The Ryan report emerged because of a brave group of survivors who many years into their adult lives were determined to get justice and support healing. I met many of them before and after I proposed the establishment of that commission of inquiry. I did not want to add a partisan note to the debate but I was struck by what the Taoiseach said about the previous Minister and Government. The survivors of the Goldenbridge institutions had been refused access to the then rainbow Government and officials for several years and it was only the television documentary that gave them a profile in the public arena. They had been denied a response from the State for many years before we proposed the establishment of that commission. I admire very much their courage, integrity and continued commitment to many survivors.

I also initiated the first inquiry into abuse in a church diocese in Ferns. Mr. George Birmingham did an outstanding job on that. We did not expect there would be further shocking revelations from the dioceses of Dublin and Cloyne. The significance of the Cloyne report is that many of the victims of abuse are much younger than those covered by the Ryan report and, in many cases, they are clearly only beginning to come to terms with the abuse they suffered. It is right that we thank the commission of investigation for carrying out a difficult assignment with sensitivity and thoroughness. I welcome the general measures proposed for dealing with what has been outlined in the report. Our consideration of the legislation should be thorough and fast. Equally, where there is a need for further forensic investigations, particularly in regard to other dioceses, they should be carried out.

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