John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this Bill and put my opinions on the record. I support the legislation as proposed. I have not had the opportunity, either in this House or in the Seanad, over the past number of years to speak on the issue of children's rights and the litany of abuses of those rights which we discovered in this country over the past ten to 15 years. I will take this opportunity to add my voice to those who have spoken on the Ryan report and its findings in May 2009 and on other reports which have outlined widespread abuse over many years in different parts of the country. In fact, I do not believe any part of the country has been exempt from some of the tales of horror that have been revealed.

It is part of the first step in helping the victims that we uncover what happened and acknowledge the grave horrors inflicted upon them in a number of residential homes throughout the country. It is an important first step. It is difficult for people who are not trained in this area, of whom I am one, to get their mind around how an adult would inflict this torture on a child. Very few crimes are more horrific than the removal of the innocence of a child. I am lucky that I grew up in a close-knit family environment and that, like my siblings, I did not end up having to be committed to a residential institution.

It is important to recall that many people who ended up in these residential homes in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s did so under rather dubious circumstances. The people who were committing them to these homes and the advice that was given and taken on board as to which families and children should be taken into care were dubious, to say the least. I am familiar with a family in my community that was split up in the 1950s. I knew one of the siblings who, sadly, is now deceased. He was very traumatised for the rest of his life as a result of what he endured in one of our residential homes. Moreover, I am sure others among his siblings could have suffered a similar fate. It is important to point out that not all the experts on whose advice people were committed to such residential institutions were clergy, as many were not. It also is important to emphasise the abuses that took place were not all perpetrated by members of religious orders. There was a complete abdication by the State of its role in looking after children who needed residential care and this simply was unacceptable.

I join previous speakers in commending the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the Government on their efforts in producing legislation. I note the publication of the heads of the children first Bill and the Minister's determination to make progress in respect of the children's rights referendum to enshrine specifically the rights of children into the Constitution. However, legislation and rights enshrined in the Constitution are only part of what must happen. It really is a question of how these rights will be enforced on the ground and of ensuring a sufficient mechanism exists for such rights to be upheld into the future. That will be the difficult part of what must be done by the Government, particularly at a time when budgets are not exactly full across the board. However, one cannot scrimp on protecting the rights of children. If one is to learn anything from what happened for generations in Ireland, it is that one must pull out all the stops with regard to protecting children into the future. I support the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, in that regard, as well as the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, who is present in the Chamber and who is responsible for the legislation under discussion. It is a welcome step in the right direction. While funding of this redress board is essential, victims also need other services, particularly in the health area and in education. I join Deputies Breen and Corcoran Kennedy in asking that those particular avenues for funding will be available for victims into the future.

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