Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. I, too, acknowledge that it is a very complex issue. Although I have a script in my hand, I feel compelled to depart from it. People do not realise the gravity of this matter. It is about what happens when a person makes a disclosure in adulthood about an incident that happened during childhood. The person has found the courage to come forward, yet we are saying it is a matter for An Garda Síochána and that Tusla has dealt with it fully in recording the disclosure. Having made that first step, the person has to come forward again to ask An Garda Síochána to take up the mantle. Although the person about whom the disclosure has been made could still be actively involved in the community, childminding, working in the local GAA club or whatever, Tusla has done its job, dotted its i's and crossed its t's, and sent the discloser on to the Garda. The discloser has been kicked back again and may lose his or her courage.

We need to tighten up on the roles and responsibilities between Tusla and An Garda Síochána. There should be a bridging period in terms of people's age, for example, if somebody aged 18 or 19 has gone to college and sought independent counselling and support outside the family for the first time. We should be encouraging such people.

See this speech in context