Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the apology from the Taoiseach yesterday, which was very important and long overdue. It is important that the apologies are followed up by constructive work and deeds. I personally know quite a number of these lads. In my city of Limerick, some of the lads who went to Creagh Lane school suffered abuse, the case went to court and the perpetrator was convicted in 2009. The brave journey taken by Louise O'Keeffe, who had to take our country to the European Court of Human Rights, has unfortunately not delivered for any of the people affected. The introduction of the prior complaint requirement, among other things, meant that people who had suffered abuse could not proceed.

I thank Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill for his excellent work in this case. He has put to bed the prior complaint requirement and the Taoiseach was left with no option yesterday other than to agree that it led to the system not working and that it denied people access to the scheme. We can sometimes forget that people are involved. In some cases, survivors have secured convictions in court but were still unable to access the scheme. I ask that the Government look after these people as a matter of priority. It is not just a question of what happened to the men involved - most of them are men - it is also about what happened to their families. Some of them suffer from addiction and others are, unfortunately, not with us, while there have been family breakdowns in other cases. I know of one guy who still cannot read or write because he had no proper education, having hated the idea of walking through the doorway into his school. Another man told me that his mother was not even aware of what was going on. Later, she asked him if the fact that he knew what was going to happen was the reason he always looked back when she sent him down to the school. The families of these children feel devastation over the fact that they were not aware of what was happening to their children. We need to address this properly. The Taoiseach's apology yesterday was welcome. He said he would not fail these people for a third time and it is important that this is the case.

Who actually came up with the prior complaint criterion? Was it a political decision or was it a legal decision? Whoever came up with it should be ashamed of themselves. Will the Minister publish the advice his Department received? I understand that the current Minister was not in the Department at the time. Will he publish the advice the Department received that stated that a prior complaint was required?

I believe the requirement was not needed and was only included to make it as difficult as possible - almost impossible - for people to access the scheme. For the people in these situations, justice is far more important than money. Money was never a factor. When people affected by this issue approached me, some of them five, six or seven years ago, they never mentioned money. The main things they sought were an apology from the State, recognition that the crimes had been committed and an acknowledgement that what had happened to them was wrong. They were the key issues. Obviously, compensation is important and action is needed in that regard.

Last year the Dáil voted by a margin of 2:1 to instruct the Government to get rid of the prior complaint requirement. I am glad that it will now be done, but we have wasted a year. We could have acted far more quickly. The comments of the Taoiseach yesterday must be followed by action. This must not drag on any longer. Can the Minister give a timeframe for sorting out this issue?

I will again specifically mention Creagh Lane school. Will the lads who suffered abuse there be included in any new scheme or changes to the current scheme? Have survivors been contacted? Is the Department setting up a telephone line for those affected by this issue to contact it? Can we be assured that people will not be subject to the Statute of Limitations? We do not want people who realise the prior complaint requirement has finally been done away with such that they can access the redress scheme to fall at another hurdle, that of the Statute of Limitations.

I again welcome the important apology given by the Taoiseach yesterday. The people affected to whom I have spoken are very appreciative of it. The outcome needs to be the delivery of a solution for them.

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