Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The content of these reports is deeply shocking. I want to know what happens to these reports. Where is the oversight and accountability in respect of them within the Department? Can the Minister confirm to me, if somebody comes forward to report retrospective child abuse pertaining to a period when they were in State care or in foster care, whether all other adults who were previously in foster care in that home where the alleged abuse took place tracked down? Are they interviewed by social workers? Can the Minister confirm that this happens? It is really important. It is especially important that we focus on the person who brings the alleged abuse to light but also that we investigate whether there was other abuse in those families.

Have people ever contacted the Minister's office directly to report retrospective abuse? If so, has his office handled those phone calls or emails? This is not the last the Government will be hearing about this issue. We need an immediate, robust commission to investigate child sexual abuse that happened in the foster care system past and present. A full, unconditional State apology needs to be given to the victims of the State who for decades have said that nobody has believed their stories.

See this speech in context