Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Fianna Fáil on tabling this motion which makes it clear that the conditions in place to access redress are causing huge distress to the victims. I agree with the point in the motion that it is unjust that citizens who have been sexually abused by perpetrators who were employed by the State in primary schools and subsequently convicted of sex abuse are excluded from the State's redress scheme because they are unable to prove that a prior complaint was made. It is very strange. It seems that we are determined to do all we can to make the lives of these most unfortunate people more difficult than they are. It is reprehensible. All one would need to do is ask Louise O'Keeffe to know how true that is. It was true when she took her case and it remains true many years later today.

I was appalled to note that the State Claims Agency, which manages litigation against the State in cases of child sexual abuse in schools, has settled only seven cases out of court to date. One has to ask what is going on and why an adversarial attitude prevails even to this day. With all due respect to the process of law and the requirement to satisfy a certain legal caution, it is clear that the will to provide redress as a matter of urgency is not there. It takes will and means to do it and it must be done. I acknowledge the progress on victim support in recent years, even if it has been very belated. It was in that spirit that I welcomed the publication of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016, which was the first comprehensive primary legislation to attempt to place the victim at the centre of the picture rather than to appear to give preferential treatment to the perpetrators of crime. That is what appeared to be happening all the time and we hope things have changed with the legislation. However, we have yet to see the fruits of that change.

We need something of that spirit now as we debate how to approach redress and compensation pathways for the victims of sexual abuse. Let us not forget that this country still has an enormous child abuse problem. In reply to a parliamentary question, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs confirmed to me that the numbers children being referred to child protection services for abuse from 2011 to 2016 was just under 250,000, which is an outlandish figure. While abuse takes place in several forms, including physical, sexual and malnourishment, this is a huge figure to see on our watch with all our education, legislation, awareness and agencies to deal with young children. It is truly horrific and deeply disturbing to see that in excess of 248,000 referrals across all categories of abuse, including physical and sexual, occurred in the period. The information provided to me shows that last year 36% of referrals were for emotional abuse, 16% were for sexual abuse, 23% were for physical abuse and 25% were for neglect. This amounts to a 50% increase in total referrals from 2011 to 2016, which is staggering. Of those nearly 250,000 referrals, more than 110,000 have been deemed to be of sufficient gravity and concern to warrant the immediate implementation of child protection measures.

In light of that information, it should be clear that we need to put in place, as a matter of urgency, better pathways to a more humane and compassionate redress scheme. Certainly, we need to be less adversarial and to remove the legal eagles from the situation. While they are acting on instructions, any situation in which they become involved is subject to delay and adversarial conflict as that is the nature of their work. I am not saying they are deliberately adversarial but they are making things adversarial on behalf of the State. I appeal to the Ministers to be more compassionate, to enter the modern era and to examine why so many children continue to be referred to the Child and Family Agency, the Garda and other social services.

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