Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister taking the Topical Issue matter and I very much appreciate his comments in publicly acknowledging on the floor of the House the problems that exist with the scheme. I also appreciate his very clear utterances that any scheme that deals with the victims of abuse of the State or while the State stood by must be carried out in a sensitive, fair and compassionate manner. I totally echo those points. What the Minister was saying without saying it was that the behaviour and utterances of the CEO were not acceptable.

The Minister referred to them as unfortunate and said that they could possibly be misconstrued. They were most unfortunate for the victims of abuse and caused extreme hurt. They represent the exact scenario that the Minister said he did not want to see. They showed insensitivity, a lack of fairness and a total lack of compassion. We have to spell that out and I believe the Minister can do so. The comments of the chief executive could not have been misconstrued. They reflected what she said.

In an interview in The Irish Times, Mary Higgins mentioned 19 suspected cases of fraud. Why throw in something like that? If fraud was alleged, why did she not go to the Garda? Inferring fraud in an application process involving thousands amounts to an inference that everyone was out to scam the scheme.

At the same time, residents or survivors feel aggrieved by the fact that Caranua tried to impose a cap on the scheme retrospectively for applicants whose applications were never processed in the first place. If we are to talk about scams, then let us talk about that one.

We need to see the Minister stepping in to ensure Caranua fulfils its obligations. I know the Minister has said that he is looking for submissions on the review to devise the terms of reference for the review. That seems to me to be a review about a review. Moreover, statutorily, the review should have been carried out some years ago. It is beyond its sell-by date in that sense.

I am pleased the Minister has publically acknowledged the problems in a round-about way in terms of the chief executive. The Minister was probably hard enough in some ways but I believe the message has to go out loud and clear. Has the Minister discussed the issue with the chief executive of Caranua? Does the Minister have any plans to meet her in the foreseeable future?

See this speech in context