Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I tabled a similar amendment on Committee Stage and discussed it, among others, with several of the Minister's officials. Ms Mary McGarry was particularly helpful in clarifying many of the issues that arose. This amendment reflects representations received from survivors in which they expressed a desire to continue working with an individual counsellor with whom they had built a relationship of trust. I agree with Deputy Clare Daly that provided the counsellor in question meets the qualification criteria set out in the Bill, this is something survivors should be able to do.

The Ryan report recommended that counselling and mental health services should continue to be provided to alleviate the effects of childhood abuse and its legacy for the following generation. The Taoiseach accepted all of the recommendations set out in the report and the Government subsequently produced an implementation plan which set out 99 proposals to address each of the 20 recommendations in the report, one of which is to improve services to children. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, is chairing the implementation group and two progress reports have been laid before the House. Deputy Clare Daly's amendment is in keeping with the commitments given by the Government in this regard. There must be an assurance that eligible former residents can continue to access counselling via the NCS and in the event of their not wishing to avail of that service or there being delays in accessing it, the fund would provide for counselling services for them, including those living abroad.

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