Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I endorse the motion and the contributions of the Taoiseach and Deputy Martin. The motion and the report send a strong message of support to those who suffered abuse. However, on this occasion there is an even stronger message of condemnation of those who perpetrated the abuse and the strongest message should be directed at those who covered it up in Cloyne, the Vatican and elsewhere. They, in full knowledge of the horrendous impact of abuse arising from previous commissions of inquiries, cases and disclosures and in full knowledge of the fact that it was either happening within their own organisation or in their area, proceeded with contempt for survivors and victims, contempt for their own church and the members and colleagues who serve it and contempt, in the case of the Vatican, for the laws of an independent nation state with, ultimately, a shared contempt for the truth. That contempt had its foundations in one aim - the protection of friends of and colleagues, a protection given and offered to the cost of victims and survivors, the church and, ultimately, the truth.

We have been here previously. All-party motions were tabled on the Ryan, Ferns and Murphy reports and we expressed similar sentiments then, yet we are back in the House again. The most shocking aspect of the Cloyne report is that we are here at all. This abuse did not happen 50 or 60 years ago in a different era. The report covers how abuse allegations were handled between 1996 and 2009. It explicitly states:

The greatest failure by the Diocese of Cloyne was its failure to report all complaints to the Gardaí. Between 1996 and 2005, there were 15 complaints which very clearly should have been reported by the diocese to the Gardaí...Of these 15, nine were not reported.

This was only 15 years ago and the report covers the period after that covered by the Ferns report. The Ferns report, published in 2005, found that bishops at that time placed the interests of individual priests ahead of those of the community in which they served, yet this practice continued unabated in Cloyne. The Murphy report has also shown this was also the practice in the Dublin archdiocese for a 30-year period. This gives us three dioceses with three similar practices of cover up.

As the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs stated last week, we cannot say with certainty that the same is not true in every other diocese. That certainty is needed. Victims and survivors need that certainty to get the peace they deserve. The country needs certainty to move on and the vast majority of priests and members of the Catholic Church who were not part of this need that certainty. It must be ensured that the HSE audit of the 24 dioceses is published in September. The church must get its act together and finalise its audit. Surely at this stage, given the time expended on this, it is not too much to ask that the audit be published by the end of this year. Publication of the audits will allow us for the first time to establish the scale of abuse throughout the county and we will only then be able to say with certainty that we can begin the process of moving on.

However, there is one caveat. The manner in which the Vatican interfered in the Cloyne diocese is appalling and the report is direct about this. According to the authors, the response of the Vatican to the framework document "can only be described as unsupportive especially in relation to reporting to the civil authorities. The effect was to strengthen the position of those who dissented from the official stated Irish Church policy". Those who dissented were not interested in the protection of the children. The response from the Vatican was in the interest of the protection of friends and colleagues at the expense of children.

It is exactly one week since the publication of the report by the Government and the Vatican has yet to issue a formal response. Its only response was through a spokesman this morning who, in a personal capacity, said there was noting in the advice given by the nuncio in 1997 to encourage bishops to break Irish laws. He said the Vatican's advice on child protection policies could not be interpreted as an invitation to cover up abuse. Does the Vatican take us, the people of Ireland, for fools? The Congregation for the Clergy of the Vatican told Irish bishops that the framework document was "not an official document of the Episcopal Conference but merely a study document. It further stated it contained "procedures and dispositions which appear contrary to canonical discipline and which, if applied, could invalidate the acts of some Bishops who were attempting to put a stop to this problem. If such procedures were to be followed by the Bishops and there were cases of eventual hierarchical recourse lodged at the Holy See, the results could be highly embarrassing and detrimental to those same Diocesan authorities".

This is the most damning line. There is no indication of any concern on the part of Vatican for the children who were abused. While the Vatican authorities might not have encouraged bishops to break the laws, they encouraged them to put the reputation of the church before the protection of children. They were more worried about embarrassment than the damage of abuse. In how many other dioceses did the Vatican interfere in the manner it did in Cloyne? We need to ascertain this to truly believe the forthcoming audits. Will the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs consider compelling the HSE to include this in their audit because we will be unable to believe other audits unless this is included?

The legislative response will come before the health and justice committees. I propose that consideration be given to establishing a joint sub-committee of both committees so that spokespersons in both portfolios can be involved. I welcome the indication that the criminal justice (withholding information on crimes against children and vulnerable adults) Bill will be introduced in September. Given the discussion that has developed around this issue in recent days, August might be used for consultation on it so people with genuine concerns will have an opportunity to put forward their views to the justice committee in a dispassionate manner. Heads of the legislation may be ready by the end of the month. If so, consultation would be possible in August.

Developments in the vetting bureau are also welcome. I acknowledge the efforts made by the Minister for Justice and Equality in addressing the backlog in the Garda vetting system. However, unless the resources issues at the bureau are addressed, our shared ambition to introduce vetting legislation will amount to nothing.

We cannot again gather on another report to express our disgust and anger at what has happened. Archbishop Martin has challenged the Catholic Church by stating it can never rest until the last abuse victim has found peace. We, too, must put legislative building blocks in place and not rest until we have done our bit to give the victims peace.

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