Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I salute the efforts of Deputy Connolly in strongly and determinedly pushing this issue. It is quite incredible that Deputy Bruton is the third Minister for Education and Skills to whom we have had to highlight the shortcomings of Caranua.

The scheme as it presently operates is re-traumatising people. We have to put a stop to this tonight. When we raise issues and concerns in here, there should be corrective action as a result. I find it shocking that when we discussed this in March when my Bill was before the House, everybody on every side - including the Minister - agreed that there were problems with the operation of the scheme and that the message had to go out loud and clear that this needed to be corrected. What happened after that? It was after this that the CEO of Caranua went on the airwaves and caused such trauma and offence to people, lacking empathy and displaying an incredibly negative attitude to survivors. I reject the point made by other Deputies that the point was corrected afterwards. It was not really retracted. The views demonstrated the continued entrenchment of the poor attitudes that other Deputies have articulated so well.

I am quite sure that Rhona in my office, who deals with many of these cases, would have great sympathy for the case outlined by Deputy Michael Healy-Rae because those types of stories are ones with which she deals on a regular basis. There are long delays, people are denied access and there are issues with the offices, among other problems. So bad is the operation of this scheme that there were reports in the media this week of William Gorry, who has said that he will take out a loan to repay the money he got from Caranua because he is so traumatised by the treatment he received and the public comments of the CEO. William rang my office this morning. He is very down. His entire life has been adversely affected by the abuse he has suffered. He has trust issues, and he says that his quality of life is so poor that he wonders why he is still alive. Imagine picking up the phone and saying that to some stranger in an office? He finished the phone call and took the opportunity to write down his story and asked me to inform the Minister about it here tonight. He sent in an email after the chat this morning. He said:

I am a 51 year old gay man, visually impaired. As a child in Mount Carmel Industrial School, Moate, County Westmeath, I suffered horrendous abuse, verbally, physically, sexually and emotionally. The institution and the State failed me in not receiving love, care, nurture and education. I wasn't equipped with the tools for the outside world. As an adult on a blind pension I am restricted in having any type of a life. On leaving care I have been through hell. Carrying the horrendous abuse of my childhood, I have been plagued by the memories of what happened to me as a child and the humiliation of failures and lost opportunities in adulthood. I haven't been able to live up to my full potential, to form or maintain friendships or relationships. This has caused me huge sadness and embarrassment. On leaving care I should have been able to enjoy happiness, good health, lots of friends, safe in the knowledge that there was a good path ahead of me - love, care, a good job, a partner, maybe a marriage - but this was sadly not to be. I have been treated harshly, abruptly by Caranua, and the remarks of its CEO, Mary Higgins, have devastated and hurt me emotionally and caused me huge pain. Minister, [William says] at this moment and for quite some time my life is lonely, miserable, restricted, fearful and painful. I seem to carry and wear all my life sufferings, not being able to move forward. It seems the State lives my life and not me. The last while I really wonder is it best that I didn't exist at all. I wish I never had to describe myself or my life like this. Minister, maybe you could consider meeting me and allowing me to express how broken I am and how empty my life is. William Gorry, survivor.

We have had so many stories like that and so many people have called our office in tears, talking about their abuse and what happened to them when they contacted Caranua. Comments such as "Couldn't you have got a cheaper hoover? You could build a mansion for that price. This isn't a sweet shop, you know". We have heard stories of people being physically questioned in department stores as to what institution they were in. This was supposed to be a process that was a straightforward way of helping people who were hurt by our State and church. It was supposed to be part of an acknowledgement and an apology for what was inflicted on them. Let us remember that every time these people fill in a form or speak to a stranger on the phone or send letters or emails they have to relive and remember the abuse, the violence, the fear, their own lack of power, the lack of protection and how badly let down they felt. They actually have no obligation to explain themselves to anybody and we should not be putting them in that position.

There are a couple of specific issues that I want to raise. The problems in many cases are caused by the decision to limit face-to-face meetings. The Government's amendment has partially addressed this but it is not enough. The main method of communication, via phone and email, is hugely problematic. It is very impersonal. It keeps survivors at arm's length. There are long periods when there is no communication at all and if one is not meeting another person, it is hard to read their body language or really get to know them and help them properly. There is a better way of doing things, and I argue that at least 70% of Caranua's staff application advisers should be deployed on a face-to-face appointment basis four days a week, seeing on average four clients a day. On the fifth day of the week could be a follow-up on paperwork. The face-to-face visit could be a home visit or an appointment to an outreach surgery if the person was vulnerable. If ten Caranua advisers were deployed in this way, 40 people a day and 160 per week would receive proper face-to-face support. In ten weeks it could see 1,600 survivors, whose issues would have been dealt with via a serious level of contact on a level that the person could appreciate. This would go a long way to breaking down communication barriers that are hindering the interactions with survivors and would in that way assist in the reconciliation process. It would enable swift and clear responses and explanations being given directly to the survivors. It would be an important point of contact where they could get advice and support on other services specific to their needs. It would enable it to act as a gateway to other mainstream services. It could allow families and other representatives of survivors to accompany them to the appointment, to help with the explanation and de-stress some of the experience. It would certainly enable Caranua staff to develop an awareness and understanding of what some of these people have gone through. In that sense, face to face is a key part of this motion, and it would compensate for the imbalance of power that survivors often experience when they communicate with professionals. They are called professionals but in the real meaning of the word have not been professional at all.

Certain groups of people have raised particular concerns about the quality of information being provided by Caranua. One of these is the deaf community. The Irish Deaf Society feel that deaf people are at a disadvantage in this process. The clinic held by Caranua at the Deaf Village in Dublin is held once a month on a weekday and during working hours. This obviously limits the ability of people to interact. It is inadequate in terms of its frequency. They cannot pick up the phone and talk to somebody and get the information afterwards. They require face-to-face meetings. On balance that should have been addressed before now. The Irish Deaf Society first made contact with Caranua in 2012 and stressed the importance of making Irish Sign Language translations available. It has taken almost four years for the videos to appear online so that people can get the information. That is four years were people have missed out on a chance to get involved. As mentioned by other Deputies the group of survivors in the UK are also at a significant advantage. It is worrying that less than 20% of applicants are from the UK when we know that over 32% of applications to the redress board were based in the UK.

The scheme is three and a half years old. There are people who applied in January 2014 who have received no payment. That is utterly shocking. It has a staffing bill that has risen to €1.5 million per year. Some €2 million is being spent on agency staff. God only knows what is going on. The office has consultancy bills for Capita and Mazars for over €180,000. This is happening while survivors are struggling. The review is long past its date and it needs to be carried out with absolute urgency.

A strong message needs to be sent on this issue. It has gone on for far too long.

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