Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The BBC "Spotlight" programme did an excellent public service in dealing with the desperate abuse that Maíria Cahill had to endure. Who went to the High Court in Belfast to try to stop that programme being aired? It was senior members of Sinn Féin. Likewise more than a year ago a joint RTE-BBC documentary on the disappeared was another piece of excellent public service broadcasting that brought home to us the suffering of so many families. We know seven families still have no grave on which to put a flower or say a prayer. Their loved ones were abducted, murdered and secretly buried. Sadly, seven of those people remain missing as a result of the desperate behaviour of the Provos.

In recent years our Constitution was amended to strengthen its protection of children. Many of us in this House and many representative organisations outside the Oireachtas worked to put in place new legislative measures, particularly since the late 1990s, to try to strive for what is best for all the children of this country. Legislative improvements are ongoing and I welcome that work.

If society is judged on how it treats the most vulnerable in its midst, and the vulnerability of young people must be recognised, then the attitude and indeed the comments of the leader of Sinn Féin and some of his party members in recent times have been absolutely deplorable. Everybody in society has rights and responsibilities, but surely there is a particular onus on people who are in representative positions in our country.

As outlined very clearly by my party leader, Deputy Martin, Sinn Féin has serious questions to answer about how it handled child sex abuse claims involving some of its own members. Closing ranks and attacking the credibility of victims of such an heinous crime is a new low. Some senior party members stated that they believe Maíria Cahill's case but not her statements about her meetings with Deputy Adams and the IRA kangaroo court to which she was subjected. This is simply not credible.

The party has thrown out the old canard that other public representatives are playing politics, which is just simply not true. The Fianna Fáil Party leader has been absolutely responsible in all his dealings with these very serious allegations going back a considerable length of time. It should be recalled that in November 2013, Deputy Martin outlined that there was evidence of systematic child sex abuse cover-ups within the Provisional movement. The Sinn Féin organisation quickly denied and tried to quash those statements. The revelations outlined by Maíria Cahill clearly vindicate the fears of every civilised person about cover-ups within that movement.

The treatment as outlined by Ms Cahill is absolutely shocking. With great dignity she has outlined the abuses to which she has been subjected. In a recent newspaper interview Ms Cahill was asked whether she felt at the centre of a political smear campaign. She answered as follows:

I think it's very clear that there have been all manner of orchestrated attempts to try and discredit me, to call into question my credibility, to smear me, and all of that is done to try and frighten me to go away and to stop talking about the issue of sexual abuse within the republican community.

It's also done to try and wear me down. It can be stressful and traumatic but it won't work and actually makes me more determined to highlight the issue in order to make it easier for other victims to be treated in the correct manner when they do come forward.

That was Maíria Cahill's very dignified response.

During the course of discussion on these extremely serious issues, which are a test for our society, the Provisional movement again promoted the nonsense that it is the so-called unbroken chain from 1916 to today. What a shameful theme to have. It is insulting in the extreme to the men and women of 1916 to compare them to the Provisional movement of recent decades. Is it not a pity that the words of the Proclamation which demanded that no one who serves the Republic should "dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity or rapine" were not followed? The Provisional movement cannot continue to hide from the past, a past with a catalogue of crimes of cowardice and inhumanity.

As I heard colleagues from other Border constituencies say, and it is relevant to us all, a key question needs to be answered. How many individuals were moved to the South from Northern Ireland following IRA investigations into sex abuse? Where are those individuals located? This is an issue of the utmost importance to local communities. The authorities in this State must be provided with all relevant details. As far as I can ascertain, these kangaroo courts and the movement of people occurred since the Good Friday Agreement, a relatively recent agreement.

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