Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I could raise many issues during education questions but when a man tells me he was raped on a daily basis by a lay principal and other survivors of abuse tell me similar, awful tragic stories which have left their lives destroyed, I must continue to raise this issue with the Minister. The stories I am being told are nothing short of horrific. The response of the State to the decision in the Louise O'Keeffe case has been utterly inadequate. It took a long time, through pressure inside and outside the Dáil, to get the Government to at least appoint Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill who told the Department what Members had said in the House and what Dr. Conor O'Mahony of University College Cork and others had also said, namely, that the Department's interpretation of the decision in the Louise O'Keeffe case was wrong. Mr. Justice O'Neill stated that the qualifying requirements of the scheme required "an inherent inversion of logic and a fundamental unfairness to applicants." The applicants are those about whom I am speaking today. The idea that this further deliberation - it is never-ending - is required does another injustice to these victims who have the European Court of Human Rights on their side. Ranged against them, they have had the legal might of the State and the slow response of the Government in dealing with the matter. This has added to the trauma they have experienced. I plead with the Minister to have the Government deal with this issue as quickly as possible.

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