Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all agree that the reports about the goings-on in the Spiritan order that have been played out over the airwaves in recent weeks are shocking. In recent weeks, I have had the chance to tune in to some of the coverage, both on the radio and in many newspapers, and to say the least, it is horrifying. I want to use this time to put on record my sympathy and solidarity with those who were let down by the system that should have protected them. Their bravery in coming forward to raise awareness, with the hope of supporting others also to make a disclosure, is a heroic effort. However, I return to the point that none of this should have happened in the first place.

Those in leadership positions within the order, and the educational institutions in which they operated, had multiple opportunities to investigate and indeed to prevent these criminals from even being in the vicinity of children. However, as with other clerical abuse scandals before this, there was a failure to intercede and protect the children. The only action taken by the order was to move the order members once it became clear they could not remain in situ, such was the extent of their offending. The only move taken by the order was to protect itself, not the children within its care. That is despicable, deplorable and criminal.

The entire lives of the survivors were turned upside down as a result of what was done to them. This particular type of crime is an insidious one. It has a monumental effect on the life of survivors and those around them. A trauma of that magnitude at such a young age can often change the entire trajectory of a life. Approximately two years ago a young man, Tom, rang me one evening. I had spoken to him previously. He said that he was in shock having heard that a school colleague who had been at boarding school with him had been abused while he was there and he had died by suicide. He was full of grief, horror and guilt that he had not come forward sooner. He spoke to me about what to do and where to go. I directed him to go first to An Garda Síochána and I rang the Garda myself about it afterwards. We were probably on the phone for three quarters of an hour. He went through the traumatic effect the abuse had on his life. He told his wife some years previously and it had an effect on their relationship. It also affected the relationship he had with his children. He was super-protective of them and afraid for them everywhere they went in case the same would happen to them as had happened to him. It brought home to me the horror of this crime, not just on the unfortunate person directly affected but on all of the other victims that spiral out from it. What affected him most is that when he first approached the management of the boarding school he had been in, he was met with denial and a refusal to accept or talk about it. The response was to bury it and push it away. That has been the initial response from all these organisations to date.

The Minister made a lengthy speech about the safeguarding measures that are now in place. They are all needed because of the type of carry-on we have had in the past, which would happen again if they were not there. However, even with our best efforts, abuse still happens. There is a lesson for all of us in this. We must use our position to make sure that people know they will be supported and cared for in respect of all of this.

In terms of what the Government must do now, as my colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire mentioned, an inquiry is the very minimum. An inquiry such as the one carried out by Dr. Gabriel Scally into CervicalCheck is an option the Government should seriously consider. It is the most recent inquiry where at least at the end of it people expressed some sense of satisfaction. We have had so many inquiries and debacles in the past where everybody has come out of it saying it did not work and that it is was not acceptable. The old chestnut that is trotted out is that it would cost too much. I go back to the young man to whom I spoke on the phone, Tom. Anyone who speaks to people like him would realise the impact it had on their lives and that cost is not the first or only consideration. In fact, it is the last.

All of us have work to do in this regard but the Government has the primary responsibility to ensure a full and adequate inquiry takes place into all of this, not just for the children affected but for their families, wider society and to ensure it does not happen again.

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