Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will share time with the Minister of State, Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. In my previous ministerial role I often noted that child sexual abuse has not gone away. Regrettably this applies not solely to child abuse. Sexual violence generally does not go away. It persists as a dark stain on our humanity and is among the most devastating of human experiences.

This morning I launched the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland's national statistics report for 2013. The statistics in such reports never fail to shock. In 2013, 91% of perpetrators were known to the survivors. The stark reality is that abuse and sexual violence happen in many settings known to victims and is perpetrated by persons known to victims. Abuse occurred in religious dioceses and congregations, in religious and State-run institutions, and in sporting organisations. In the UK we have seen how sex abuse prevailed in show business circles. Now, thanks to the very public and courageous effort by one Belfast woman, Maíria Cahill, we know that sexual abuse occurred in circles of the republican movement.

Maíria was the victim of an heinous crime, but Maíria was also the victim of something else equally heinous. She was the victim of a cover-up. She was the victim of a culture that sought to deal with abuse within a closed setting or institution, a culture which ultimately failed the victim while protecting the offender from the public rule of law enacted by governments.

While we now know of many of the settings in which cover-up of abuse took place, many questions remain. In the case of the IRA, we do not know what happened to abusers who were moved across the Border. We do not know whether high-risk sex offenders were resettled across the Border, unknown to civil authorities, posing a lingering and dangerous risk to children.

I note that Deputy Adams wrote a blog on 19 October entitled "How republicans dealt with allegations of child abuse" in which he referred to how the IRA took "action against rapists and child abusers" including shooting or expelling offenders. However, despite Deputy Adams's call for reporting, it still remains unclear how much Deputy Adams knows about the movement of sex offenders across the Border. This matter is being investigated by An Garda Síochána, as the Garda Commissioner confirmed this morning. Does Deputy Adams have any information on this specific matter which he has not shared with the Garda? Will he share this information with the Garda? He said something about it in his speech earlier but it was not absolutely clear. He stated he had had some discussions.

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