Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I welcome this Bill which provides for the establishment of the residential institutions statutory fund that was proposed following the publication of the Ryan report. The findings of that report exposed in all its awfulness the different types of abuse meted out to our young children by people in positions of power and trust in this State. The physical, emotional and psychological abuse doled out in these institutions was matched by authorities that were complicit in both ignoring and condoning the horrors being experienced by vulnerable children and teenagers in the name of reformation of one kind or another. Society, the Government and religious orders failed them.

We must never forget this traumatic period in our history when, as a young democracy, we placed little value on our children and young people's well-being. Violence and coercion appear to have been seen as the only ways to build good character and values. Adults in positions of trust, wielding such power and aggression over young people, did not live up to the Christian values they purported to espouse. We must never allow such horrors to recur. Where people deviate into such behaviour we, as a society, must act swiftly to ensure that the full rigours of the law are used against such individuals to send a clear message that our young people are valued and deserve every opportunity to live safely in this Republic.

Establishing a fund for the victims and their families is a means for them to be compensated but it can never truly compensate them for a lost childhood, full of pain and horror. A fund that will give them access to services and educational opportunities is but one step for our society to try to recognise and abhor what happened to the victims. The ongoing trauma prevented many of them from living an emotionally secure life and the subsequent fall-out for their families cannot be underestimated. In this context I ask that the fund be accessible to all people who can prove that there were past residents of these institutions. It appears unfair that only the people who have already accessed the redress board or the courts are allowed to apply to the proposed fund. There might have been genuine reasons for not coming forward until now, and we are now proposing to compound the neglect of these victims through this exclusion. That is wrong.

Access to education is the best way out of poverty. The existing education fund was a successful way for families of victims to obtain educational grants. This access should continue under the statutory fund for families of all the former residents as well as for the former residents. I also ask that the fund be left open to philanthropic donations, which would ensure the fund would be sufficient to cover these needs, rather than just relying on the contributions of the religious orders and the Government, which will be a finite sum.

There is still further work to be done. While I welcome this Bill, we must also address the circumstances of the victims of the Magdalene laundries and the Bethany Homes, something which should be done sooner rather than later. Services must be provided to address the needs of victims, who must be at the centre of all our actions.

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