Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It does what it says on the tin and puts children first. It is long overdue.

Having listened to the debate this evening and since the Minister introduced the legislation, I note that others have contextualised the Bill in terms of where the country has come from. It is no harm to do that. Every morning every Member walks in past the Proclamation. We were in Arbour Hill this morning to commemorate those who gave their lives in 1916. The Proclamation set out the aspirations of the Republic that was to be founded in the aftermath of the Easter Rising. Looking at that Proclamation, how it was delivered and the context in which it was proclaimed, and looking at Ireland in 2014, we see that over the 98 years since 1916 we have not lived up to the aspirations set out in respect of children. We probably did not live up to the aspirations for women either. The opening salvo in the Proclamation refers to "Irishmen and Irishwomen". It identifies them as equals. Our legacy over the last 98 years in the protection of children has not been a very proud one, and this is something on which we must work harder. Over the intervening period, particularly in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Kilkenny incest case and a host of other horrific matters fell out of the media night after night. Even now, in 2014, those cases continue to shock. They still send a shiver down the spine when they are recalled. They have been dramatised in films such as "Song for a Raggy Boy".

As a society, collectively, and as a Government and people, we must apologise and pay respect to the children who were dealt an appalling hand by the State and by accidents of birth. One of the most horrific places I have ever been is the graveyard at Letterfrack in Galway. There is a small graveyard there attached to what was an industrial school. The tiny headstones are a constant physical reminder to us - if we ever needed it - of how we failed not just one generation of children but countless ones. The previous speaker referred to the ills of the Internet and social media, but we must look at the positive side of those and of lifting the lid on a horrendous time in our history. One gets to look in and see what was done in the name of the State and of institutions which were looked up to in a lot of cases and which failed children by not providing the protection, education and shelter they needed. In many cases, they were severely lacking.

That was the context. If we fast-forward to 2011, we see a Government giving children the recognition they deserve by providing them with a voice at Cabinet for the first time since the Proclamation was issued on the steps of the GPO and a commitment was made to cherishing the children of the nation. It was not until then that the voice of the child was heard in a forum in which it mattered - at the Cabinet table, over which decisions are taken which have an impact on children who are vulnerable on foot of their age and the accidents of birth which determine the homes into which they may or may not be lucky enough to fall into.

The Bill identifies a number of things. I was not a member of the committee that deliberated on this over a number of meetings, but there is a concern I have. The Bill places on people an obligation to report. No one disputes that that is in the best interests of the child. However, there may be instances of intentional failure where it can be proven beyond any doubt that mandated persons intended not to make a report. Perhaps the person might know the abuser or the child's family. Where there is an intentional and clear lack of commitment to the child, there must be consequences. Reading the Bill, which has rightly been welcomed by children's organisations, and the media commentary on it, I wonder if we will be looking at it in future and asking if there was a need to put a penalty in place as a safeguard in respect of mandated persons. While I hope it does not arise, we never know what situations will occur.

The people who went before us in the House 30 and 40 years ago never thought they would see what fell out of the cupboards in terms of the abuse that was being carried out in the name of the State. Honourable men and women sat on both sides of the House. They were probably kept in a cocoon or a cloud of denial through an intentional campaign by those who were put in charge of children not to bring forward information that was absolutely necessary. That was the way it was and one simply did not talk about those things. I acknowledge that the Bill has a long way to go, but I wonder if consideration might be given to penalties for those who intentionally withhold information and put a child at risk.

The Bill addresses the issue of neglect. As someone who taught for a short period, I was trained at Mary Immaculate College, where we looked at the concept of neglect. I have mentioned to the Minister previously the concepts of shelter, food and nourishment, which are hugely important. A child may not report for school week after week and be missing in the roll book. Some children are present at school for a fixed period in the run-up to the delivery of a sacrament before going missing. Where a child vanishes off the face of the earth, as does his or her family, there is an onus on the State to find out what is happening in his or her home. It is all well and good for the child to be instructed in the sacraments. While I am a huge advocate of that, there is a caveat.

It is seriously questionable when a child is taken out of school after receiving sacraments in the local parish and the family vanishes into thin air with no follow-up from State agencies to see what kind of schooling the child is getting and whether the child's best interests are being served. The child is still an Irish citizen, regardless of whether the child is in this jurisdiction or another. There is an onus on the State to break the cycle whereby children are being taken into and out of schools just to fulfil particular elements of what the family requires. It must be examined.

I welcome the associated legislation produced by this Government in the run-up to this Bill, including criminal justice legislation such as the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act. Having heard the news of the resignation of the Minister for Justice and Equality, I would be remiss in not paying tribute to him for the work done on the protection of children. There will be argy-bargy afterwords on "Prime Time" on RTE and on TV3 about the resignation, but that does not take from the fact that Deputy Alan Shatter did a huge amount of good work in protecting the children of this country. It behoves the House to acknowledge that in whatever way. The evening should not pass, when talking about legislation that is inextricably linked to the criminal justice system, without our paying tribute to him.

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