Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chair for allowing me to raise this issue. To say the least this is a very disturbing development. We have all read in the newspapers about the activity of predators who seem to be able to gain access to residential care areas. Alarming is one way to describe this. To my mind it is without precedent. After all, there are several agencies that could have responsibility for dealing with this kind of situation. Were it not for UCD carrying out a report, we probably would not know about it at all. There are serious connotations here for the well-being and lives of the young women and girls who are in the residential care homes. It appears that a number of people, apparently organised, have ready access and seem to be able to come and go at will and are using the residents there for sexual pleasure, for their purposes. The residents were referred to those homes in the first place for care, protection and attention. It undermines public confidence in the level of care and supervision. Some people seem to have had easy access in meeting up and interacting with the residents in the care homes. We heard earlier tonight about various other incidents throughout the country that are abhorrent. This situation is equally abhorrent. Whatever the reason for their being referred to residential care, the young women and girls are as entitled to fair and equal attention to everybody else. They should be free to reside there without threat, without trafficking for want of a better description, and with clear knowledge that there are carers who have their care in mind.

The situation now emerging raises the question as to what else is happening. How could such a thing happen on an organised basis? Who is responsible? To whom now do we refer? First we have to refer to the agencies that referred the women to such institutions. They are supposed to have some knowledge as to how to deal with a situation such as has been reported in the newspapers. How do we know about the next group of people who are likely to be referred to residential care? Who is in charge? Who determines the level of support and comfort that is supposed to be available to people in that vulnerable situation? Why do we not know about these things well in advance?

Such situations arise because something goes wrong. They arise when predators become aware of the possibility of becoming involved for their benefit. When something goes wrong to the extent that nobody is responsible and nobody comes forward and says it should not have happened and that action is being taken to ensure it does not happen again, we have to ask more serious questions.

See this speech in context