Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

At the outset, I commend the rigorous work of her honour Judge Yvonne Murphy and the commission. It is an absolute disgrace that it was necessary at all.

Regrettably, we have all been down this road before. We have seen the Ferns, Ryan and Murphy reports and now this particular report on the diocese of Cloyne - more cases of the abuse of children by priests and a church reluctant, at the very best, to live up to its responsibilities to protect its flock. Unfortunately, it is no longer shocking that the Catholic Church failed our children. We have been over similar ground previously.

Far too often we have investigated the unhealthy relationship between church and State and the horrors that have been perpetrated on children by both over a long period. My party believes the motion before the House today should have acknowledged the failure of this State to protect children in law and in reality.

What astonishes most people about this report is that it related to a time when the Catholic Church in Ireland had put in place detailed procedures for dealing with child sexual abuse, and during a period of constant revelations about child abuse by priests. Best practice, as contained in guidelines and rules, does not matter one iota if there is not implementation.

There was abject failure on behalf of the church and to a lesser degree the State. This report details a litany of concealment and evasion by the Catholic Church, including Bishop Magee's incomplete account of how he was handling allegations; the diocese failure to report nine out of 15 complaints made against priests which clearly should have been reported; the failure to report the two cases in which the alleged victims were minors at the time the complaint was made; the placing by the diocese of far too much emphasis on the concerns of the alleged offenders; Monsignor O'Callaghan withholding the identity of an alleged perpetrator from authorities and attempting to have a particular Garda carry out the investigation; the Commission statement that it cannot understand how the monsignor concluded no sexual abuse had occurred in a situation where clearly and unequivocally it had - the mind boggles; bad policing practices by the Garda in three cases; an allegation made against Bishop Magee in 2008 which called into question his judgment; and one complaint in 1996 and another in 2008 being all that was reported to the health authorities. I cannot imagine the pain, hurt and suffering caused by this abuse. I extend my deepest sympathies to all the victims. In the case of Cloyne, they are my friends and neighbours.

I am glad that the Government has taken issue with the disgraceful lack of engagement by the papal nuncio with the Commission and the outrageous interference of the Vatican in matters of child protection in this State. While we still await an official Vatican response, the comments today from the papal nuncio do not go nearly far enough.

I welcome the Government's stated priority of bringing abusers to justice, in particular, the appointment of the assistant commissioner to examine the possibility of doing this. In addition, I make a personal call on all abuse victims to go straight to the Garda as the body best able to deal with allegations of abuse.

Sinn Féin will not be found wanting in supporting promised legislation by the Government if it can be proven to improve child protection. Like my colleagues, I call for well worked-out, good legislation and the resources to ensure the outcomes we desire. Sinn Féin is heartened by the Children First child protection guidelines being placed on a statutory footing. The Government has made firm commitments on these following the Cloyne report. We are determined to ensure these commitments are delivered upon. We support the motion before the House today with the caveat that we would have preferred some areas to be stronger. This has been a long and painful chapter in Irish history and the reports and investigations are set to continue. The Legislature must ensure that from this day forth no child is ever subjected to the horrors visited upon the victims detailed in the reports to date. This must end immediately.

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