Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle.

It was also a Fianna Fáil Minister who did a deal with the 18 Irish religious orders, allegedly involved in child sexual abuse scandals, which severely limited their compensation liability to these victims of abuse.

Sinn Féin, in particular an Teachta Aengus Ó Snodaigh, has campaigned for many years for an all-Ireland sex offenders register. An Teachta Ó Snodaigh has raised this issue in this Chamber many times with various Ministers but it is still outstanding.

The Taoiseach said the Government has done more for children than any other Government in the history of this State, but when it comes to supporting the victims of domestic violence and of rape, this Government has an appalling record. Since it assumed office in 2011, funding for rape crisis centres, women's aid refuges and other support groups has been slashed. Safe Ireland and other agencies providing support for women's groups have consistently highlighted the fact that each year hundreds of women and children cannot access refuges because of the lack of funding, and I have raised this with the Taoiseach many times. The Fine Gael-Labour Party Government promised in its programme for Government that it would introduce consolidated domestic violence legislation to protect victims. Almost four years after it was elected, that has not happened. Most significantly, the Taoiseach he has failed to sign up to the European Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, and I have raised this with him many times.

The recent figures from the Child and Family Agency reveal a major shortfall in the number of social workers with responsibility for caring for children. This represents a failure on the part of Government to fulfil its commitment and responsibility. The report by the independent child death review group, published two years ago, was a chilling indictment of child protection systems that repeatedly failed to save children from abuse and, in some cases, from death. Page after page of this report recorded the lives and deaths of one young person after another, and with each conclusion it is clear the child protection system failed time after time on the Taoiseach's watch. The ICDRG report provides a disturbing and harrowing insight into the schematic failure of the Irish State's child protection system between 2000 and 2010. It is also a damning reflection on the previous Government which failed to use the wealth of the boom years of the Celtic tiger to invest in child protection services and strategies. The responsibility for these failures rests with these parties; they failed victims. While we cannot change the past, we have a responsibility to redress and address it to try to make things better in the future.

As I said at the beginning of my remarks, there is a need to resolve this matter through the relevant authorities, North and South. This should have been an option for all cases in the past. I made an appeal for information two weeks ago, and since that appeal, I have received information from a republican source in relation to these matters. It came to me anonymously, and while I cannot vouch for it, I do not doubt its authenticity. That is not a matter of judgment for me, however, so I have passed this information on to An Garda Síochána. I appeal again to anyone with any information to come forward. If, or when, I receive any other information, I will also give this to the Garda.

The Irish and the British Governments and all political parties have a responsibility to deal with this legacy. Victims and survivors have the right to truth and justice, and aside from this issue of abuse, there is a need to establish a genuine truth recovery process. Other post-conflict societies have successfully used such processes to deal with these issues, and again I have raised this many times with the Taoiseach in this Chamber. The Haass proposals provide a viable mechanism for this to happen, and again there is a responsibility on all of us, but especially on the Irish Government, to agree and advance those proposals.

Victims and survivors include those who were subject to sexual abuse, threat and exploitation, whether by individuals who were members of the state forces or non-state combatant groups, including the IRA, or any other individuals. Survivors of sexual abuse and rape deserve acknowledgement, support and justice. Perpetrators of abuse need to be subject to the law and brought before the courts.

I wish Maíria Cahill well. I hope she finds happiness and has happiness and completeness in her life. I hope she gets justice and that her alleged abuser is brought to justice. I also hope the Government acts on the proposals Sinn Féin has brought forward. The Taoiseach said he welcomes the letter from the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, so let us act on that. These issues are bigger than party politics or the next election.

I am sure all the Deputies present who are lucky enough to have families love and cherish their families. Many of them have had family tragedies. I know that all those here - taking them at face value - would do their best to protect their children. That is the instinct of the vast majority of human beings. It is the same for Sinn Féin members, Sinn Féin representatives and Sinn Féin voters.

Let me say, and this is not part of my scripted remarks, speaking personally and on behalf of my wider family as well as my close family, we deeply reject the continuous taunts and offensive commentary by some here about what was for our family a deeply traumatic episode in our family life. I was told the rule in the South in politics and in this Dáil was that none of this should be taken personally, that none of this is personal. That is what we were told. The person who will offend one in the Chamber will sidle up to one outside and ask if one is okay. There is nothing more personal than the remarks some Deputies have made here today. I suppose I should not judge them on what they say in this particular debate as we will all be judged on what we do to protect children and the rights of women.

See this speech in context