Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill, which provides for the establishment of a statutory fund to support the needs of survivors of child abuse in residential institutions. I note that 1,500 former residents are expected to be eligible to apply for support from the fund and every effort is being made by the Minister, who I welcome to the Chamber today, to minimise the administration involved. The fund should target resources at services to support former residents' needs, such as counselling, psychological support services and mental health services, health and personal social services, educational services and housing services. While the Residential Institutions Redress Board provides financial compensation to those who suffered abuse while resident in the institutions, this Bill provides for a new statutory fund, which will focus on meeting specified needs which many survivors have as they struggle with the effects of abuse that may have taken place many years ago.

Following on from the last speaker's contribution, I wish to deal specifically with the effects of child abuse and the trauma experienced by those who were in institutional care at the time. Studies examining the relationship between childhood trauma, such as that suffered by many people in institutions, and adult suicidal behaviour have reported evidence the two are frequently linked. For example, 12 of the 100 young people who were abused in children's homes in Clwyd, north Wales, have since taken their lives. My contribution is based on consultation meetings with people who experienced industrial child sexual abuse conducted by the National Suicide Research Foundation based in Cork, which examined this issue. This consultation took place in Tralee, Limerick, Waterford, Enniscorthy, Galway and Cork and involved 90 survivors of institutional child sexual abuse. Some of the survivors had numerous insights themselves with regard to risk and protective factors for suicidal behaviour among people experiencing institutional abuse. Many refer to alcohol abuse, depression, lack of education, difficulty obtaining employment and social isolation as being risk factors. A frequently recurring theme was the belief instilled in them by those in charge of the institutions that nobody else wanted them and that they would never be successful in life. Much of the abuse took place at night in the institutions and thus many survivors find it very difficult to sleep even now, decades after the abuse.

Protective factors against suicide mentioned by survivors included relationships, children, contact with survivor groups and being able to secure steady employment and obtaining an education after they had left the institution. Survivors who had attempted to take their own lives or who had considered doing so spoke about their situation around this time. The emerging themes included not having support of their partner, feeling depressed or experiencing a sense of hopelessness, being under the influence of alcohol or having commenced counselling, thereby opening up the past. Feeling that there is nobody to talk to who will understand is also frequently mentioned as an issue around the time of suicidal ideation. Those who did not go ahead with their plans to take their own lives frequently referred to their children as being a protective factor. A large number of survivors who participated in consultation meetings had experienced the death of either a friend or a member of family through suicide.

The situation around the time of persons taking their own life sometimes reflected a detachment from the world, where a depressed individual seemed happier in the weeks running up to their suicide than they had been for some time. Redress was a particularly traumatic time for survivors who had not yet attended counselling. The experience of telling one's story for the first time to a panel of strangers with whom one had not built up any rapport and who were only interested in the facts of one's case was a terrible ordeal. Many survivors have experienced mental and physical health difficulties in adult life. Depression, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder were evident. Psychosomatic affects such as migraine and diarrhoea were mentioned by some of the survivors. Survivors are concerned about the apparent over-use of medication as a treatment, in particular by GPs. Many feel that the professionals do not understand their unique situation as survivors of institutional abuse and that greater awareness is necessary.

Transgenerational mental health issues also need to be addressed. There have been some examples among survivors who are anxious for their adult children who are perhaps struggling with addictions or appear to be depressed or suicidal. With no parenting model themselves survivors are often unsure how to deal with these issues or even what services are available for their children and how to access them.

A recurring theme at the consultation meetings was that previously survivors did not speak about the abuse they suffered because they feared they would not be believed. In spite of the extensive media coverage in recent years of cases of abuse in institutions some survivors still have not told their partners what they experienced in childhood. Reasons for not wishing to explain this part of their lives include not wanting to upset the partner with full disclosure of abuse, or being afraid that the partner will be unable to deal with the knowledge and the relationship may suffer in consequence.

Much of the abuse took place in the institutions and thus many survivors find it very difficult to sleep even now, as I stated. For that reason night time is often when they need someone to talk to and the lack of a 24 hour help line, apart from the Samaritans, was mentioned by a number of survivors. Upon leaving the institutions at the age of 16 survivors took various pathways in adult life. Many found the outside world too difficult to cope with, especially when they were used to large self-contained institutions, big dormitories and the strict routine with hundreds of other people around. As a result, a recurring theme was the return to institutional life, for example, by joining the Army.

Survivors recalled the difficulty of adjusting to life outside while trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Many went to England as there one could ask for advice about simple things such as taking a bus and excuse one's lack of knowledge by saying one was unfamiliar with the country. Others spoke of trying to understand one had to pay for food in supermarkets or learning to go to bed at night in a room on one's own with no noise, no other people around. Trying to fit in socially on the outside was difficult given the sense of shame of growing up in an institutional school. Survivors explained how they would invent a story to tell their new work colleagues or friends where they grew up and where their families now were. They recalled being on the outside of their circle of friends, lacking in confidence and being careful not to be caught out in their stories.

Relationships were a particularly difficult issue for survivors, given that industrial schools for older children were single-sex. Given the prevalence of sexual abuse in the industrial schools survivors did not have a comprehension of what constituted normal, consensual, sexual behaviour between adults. Furthermore, nuns made a particular point of warning girls to stay away from men, without giving them any actual sex education. For many there is a sad sense of missed opportunities for the relationships they did not get to experience in their younger days. Marital disharmony or separation arose quite frequently in discussions with survivors. For many this related back to when they told their spouses about the experience in the institution. For others it resulted from the pressures of long periods of unemployment or alcohol abuse. In addition, growing up in an institutional environment meant that survivors had a lack of experience in forming lasting relationships and had no model to learn from. Those who had children outlined difficulties in parenting without having had any role models. Some recalled giving their children everything they wanted without establishing boundaries. Others were unsure how to be affectionate with their children in an appropriate manner. Yet others felt their parenting was too regimented because the strict regime of the institution was the only parenting model they had experienced.

Finding employment was difficult for many as they left the institutions with low levels of literacy. Some spoke of being institutionalised in their employment. Frequently, concern was expressed about patients being discharged from psychiatric wards too soon. Although those concerned understand the capacity problem concerning crisis beds they believe the circumstances of some of their fellow survivors should necessitate keeping them in for observation for a longer period. Some of these people have nowhere to go when they are discharged. The Minister highlighted this point in regard to how the housing issue concerns survivors. There was some discussion about the usefulness of a nursing home or halfway house for survivors who have to leave hospital but are not well enough to return to independent living in the community.

I refer in conclusion to a professional person who identified suicidal behaviour among survivors. When she spoke about a female patient of a psychiatrist, she said:

I do not think she will ever tell him [her husband] because when he hears the [television] programmes, he says "look at all those dreadful people lying just to get money", so of course she is never going to. "That never happened", he says, so she will never tell him now. Well, she says she will not. So, all her life this was a piece kept away. Her deepest friends do not know .... and her husband knows nothing.

I would like to speak about the effects of child abuse. It is right that we abhor child abuse. As earlier speakers have said, it is important to understand its effects and its destructive outcomes for children. When child abuse occurs, the victim can develop a variety of distressing feelings, thoughts and behaviours. No child is psychologically prepared to cope with repeated sexual stimulation. Even a two year old who cannot know sexual activity is wrong will develop problems as a result of his or her inability to cope with over-stimulation. A child of five years or older who knows and cares for the abuser will become trapped between affection or loyalty for the person and the sense that sexual activities are terribly wrong. If the child tries to break away from the sexual relationship, the abuser may threaten the child with violence or loss of love. A child who is the victim of prolonged sexual abuse usually develops low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness and abnormal or disordered views on sex. The child may become withdrawn or mistrustful of adults. He or she can become suicidal. Children who have been sexually abused sometimes have difficulty relating to other people other than on sexual terms. Some of them become child abusers or prostitutes or experience other serious problems when they reach adulthood.

There are often no obvious physical signs of child sexual abuse. A number of signs can be detected through physical examination by a doctor. Sexually abused children may develop an unusual interest in, or avoidance of, things of a sexual nature. They can experience sleep problems and often have nightmares. They can suffer depression and become withdrawn from friends or family. They may make statements about their bodies being "dirty" or "damaged". They might think there is something wrong with them in the genital area. They may refuse to go to school, or become delinquent and have behavioural problems. They often become secretive. They sometimes display aspects of their sexual molestation in their drawings, games or fantasies. They may be unusually aggressive. The child may be extremely fearful of telling someone, although he or she might talk freely when a special effort has been made to help him or her to feel safe. If a child says he or she has been molested, parents and supporters should try to remain calm and reassure him or her that what happened was not his or her fault. They should seek a medical examination and a psychiatric consultation.

The initial and short-term effects of sexual abuse usually occur within two years of the termination of the abuse. These effects vary depending on the circumstances of the abuse and the child's stage of development. They may include regressive behaviour such as a return to thumb-sucking or bed-wetting, sleep disturbance, eating problems, behavioural or performance problems in school and non-participation in school and social activities. The negative effects of child abuse can affect victims for many years and into adulthood. High levels of anxiety in these adults can result in self-destructive behaviours such as alcoholism, drug abuse, anxiety attacks, situation-specific anxiety disorders, insomnia, depression, attempted suicide and completed suicide. Many victims encounter problems in their adult relationships and adult sexual functioning. Revictimisation is a common phenomenon in people who were abused as children. Research has shown that child sexual abuse victims are more likely to be victims of rape or be involved in physically abusive relationships as adults.

The ill-effects of child abuse are wide-ranging. There is no one set of symptoms or outcomes. Some children report little or no psychological distress from the abuse. These children may be afraid to express their emotions and may be denying their feelings as a coping mechanism. Other children may have sleeper effects - experiencing no harm in the short term but suffering serious problems in later life. In an attempt to assess whether a child can recover from sexual abuse and to better understand the ill-effects of such abuse, psychologists have studied the factors that seem to lessen the impact of such abuse. The factors that affect the amount of harm done to the victim include the age of the child, the duration, frequency and intrusiveness of the abuse, the degree of force used and the relationship with the abuser. Issues such as the child's interpretation of the abuse, whether he or she discloses the abuse and how quickly he or she reports it can also affect the short-term and long-term consequences of the abuse. As I have said, it is very easy and important to abhor child abuse and to establish redress boards to deal with this vital issue. It is just as important to understand the effects and destructive outcomes for children who have suffered child abuse in institutions and elsewhere.

See this speech in context