Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I join with other speakers in supporting the motion and I commend all parties for agreeing the motion. Like others, I deplore the Vatican's intervention which contributed to the undermining of the child protection frameworks and guidelines of the Irish State and of Irish bishops. I further concur with the condemnation of the inadequate and inappropriate response of, in particular, the church authorities in Cloyne, to complaints and allegations of child sex abuse. I understand the frustration and anger of many people with regard to these matters. I can empathise with the call for the expulsion of the papal nuncio. However, it is this line of communication which must be continued to be used and which must be continued in our efforts to demand answers from the Vatican. I also compliment Judge Murphy and her colleagues on the commission for their sterling work in this regard. I compliment the victims for their courage and fortitude, for the initial telling of their abuse and their subsequent dealings with those in authority.

I refer to a statement in a newspaper today from Derek Mulligan who is connected to the case in Donegal. I note the eloquent manner in which he described his feelings and the consternation caused in his life before he came forward with details of his own abuse:

I carried this cross on my back for 12 years, unable to forgive myself for what this demon did to me. He took my soul, my faith and my heart. He also haunted my dreams. I was unable to love. I was scared of everyone and everything. I kept running from place to place, Dublin to Spain to Letterkenny and to Derry.

This is a snapshot of the hurt and pain and the feelings of many young people throughout the country and specifically of those we talk about today and we commend them for their part in bringing forward this report and in bringing forward what will be a new direction for the State in imposing the will of the people and the will of this House as to how these matters are dealt with in the future.

I commend the initial response of the Government and I commend the programme for dealing with this issue. I commend the movement from voluntary reporting to that of mandatory reporting. However, I ask what measures will be put in place to augment this policy. Examples from other jurisdictions show that the move from voluntary to mandatory reporting results in a significant increase in the number of reports. I refer to the example of New South Wales in Australia which in 1998 adopted a policy of mandatory reporting instead of voluntary reporting. Thirty thousand cases were reported in 1998 and in 2008 the figure was 180,000 cases reported. There had been a sixfold increase in a ten-year period. The number of social workers was doubled from 1,000 to 2,000 on the day mandatory reporting was introduced.

In Ireland today, between 5% and 10% of children in the care of the State do not have an assigned social worker. There is already pressure on our system and this is before putting in place the correct facilities, implementation plan, funding and personnel. We should take lessons from the Ryan report which was issued two years' ago. It dealt with abuse in residential institutions. The subsequent implementation plan was accompanied by funding of €24 million. The plan provided for the provision of 270 new social workers. A total of 200 have been employed but 70 are still required in that area. In addition to the percentage of children who do not have an assigned social worker or care assistant, there is a deficit of 70 social workers for those affected by the Ryan report. These are further strains and further pressures.

What assessments have been carried out by the relevant Departments of the move from voluntary to mandatory reporting? What provisions are consequent to that assessment? What funding or personnel can be provided in order to ensure the success of the plan? Will the Government publish any assessments which have been carried out? Can we scrutinise them and ensure adequate resources are being provided? If it has not been carried out can the Government commit to carrying it out forthwith? Can it commit to augmenting it with the relevant funds and personnel to assure our people that these children can be assured of the sort of care that is required further to the publication and further to the distress heaped upon them?

I commend the strength, depth and quality of debate that has been forthcoming from all sides of the House today. I commend the Government on its initial reaction and for its goodwill, good faith and commitment to introduce the sorts of measures that will prevent issues such as this from arising again. However, in the recent Donegal case there was reporting and the HSE and Garda were informed and yet it still persisted. We are at a major juncture in the history of the State in this regard. The Members of this House can have a significant impact on how we deal with these issues in the future and we must deal with them correctly. Every effort should be made to ensure that the provisions and steps being discussed are followed through, not only by means of words and reporting, but we also need the support system in place to coincide with that report. I refer to a support system in the area of funding and in personnel and then we will be able to address all the issues that have arisen in Dublin, Cloyne and Donegal. Despite the drip-feed of this terrible saga in the past 20 years, the Cloyne report refers to 2008 and the Donegal case refers to the present day. Reporting is not enough without the relevant funding and personnel in place to augment and support it. I commend the motion to the House.

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