Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)

While I welcome the opportunity to discuss this Bill, the history leading to it is one that I wish had never occurred. It is a history of abuse, which was systemic, endemic and covered up. Many thousands of men and women, who were boys and girls then, suffered at the hands of a church and State that clearly did not give a damn about their welfare.

They had a responsibility to them, a duty of care, which was often ignored or discharged corruptly. The church and State still have a responsibility to them, which is the reason for the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill. The Bill is welcome and offers a much needed fund to support the education, health, housing and welfare needs of survivors of residential child abuse.

The cost of responding to this abuse is now estimated to exceed €1.36 billion.

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