Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State and thank him. I will say about this very important issue that every person goes through life and some people have good luck and good fortune and more people do not. Unfortunately, the people who found themselves in these institutions were very important human beings but were subjected to degrading practices. They were degraded and upset. They were treated as if they were not human beings. I acknowledge this Government and other Governments for trying to put right a wrong that was certainly not the doing of any government in our modern times. What we are trying to do now is play catch-up. We are trying to create a situation of redress for those very important people. Whether it is through supports, be they psychological, physical or financial, we have to try to ensure as politicians that we do our best by those people. Through my political work I have come across what I would call survivors of institutional abuse and I have listened to them, the same as the Minister of State and everybody in this House has. I have listened to their stories and to be honest it would break your heart because you ask how any human being - be it a man, woman, religious or non-religious person - could be so awful to another person. It is very hard to understand it. I know that if I were to live forever, I would never understand it.

With the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach's indulgence, I wish to thank an individual. Ms Vera O'Leary has worked in the Kerry rape crisis centre for many years, and I know first-hand from dealing with constituents how helpful and kind that lady and her staff have been in supporting victims of rape and other types of abuse and dealing with people at their most vulnerable time. I have had the privilege of visiting the Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre.

It was explained to me how it manages, funds and provides a service and takes care of people who present to them. Vera has given a lifetime to that work and I know she is coming to retirement. I wish to acknowledge that work, thank her for it and say that she had a positive impact on many people's lives. She took them through very bad, long and hard days and ordeals. It is nice to acknowledge a person and say, "Thank you very much", and that his or her life's work made a difference.

People are critical of the Bill. We can all be critical of a Bill and say that this or that does not go far enough and we are missing this or that. That we are debating this and a Bill is being enacted is a step in the right direction. We always have to try to do more and be conscious that we must never allow a situation like this to happen again.

I often think about children in the context of technology like a mobile phone. People are in the legal system because they have looked at pornography and so on. You cannot have abuse or pornography of children unless there are victims. To this day, I worry whether we as politicians, who enforce the law of the land, and those involved in different State agencies are doing enough to try to protect vulnerable people, whether it is those caught up with alcohol or drug abuse, or children.

We hear of awful cases where parents have subjected their children to abuse for profit. We read about such cases in local newspapers, where mums and dads have abused their children. Anyone would give their life to protect their own or somebody else's child. If we thought something horrible or untoward was going on, we would put ourselves in the way to try to protect a vulnerable person.

We know about historical institutional abuse. I worry whether we are doing enough to protect the children of today from the scourge that is modern technology. When I refer to a scourge, technology is a great thing when it is used properly but it is an awful thing when people can look at images of children. We must remember that when people look at such images, it is as if they are perpetrating the crime on a child because they are watching what is happening and there is a victim. We always have to make sure that we do enough for such people. I am not here to criticise the Government or say there is anything wrong in the Bill. Rather, I am thanking all of the politicians, those in government and in opposition, for trying to put right a horrible wrong.

With regard to religion, of course there were people who were involved in religious orders who engaged in abuse and that was horrible, awful and wrong. There are people who might not like religion, or priests or nuns, for one reason or another, which is their own business. During a debate like this, we have to say that the vast majority of people involved in religious orders have given up their lives for something they believe in, and that is a thing called God. They are not bad people. They never did anything wrong. They, like you and me, would do anything to protect a child or other person and they would not engage in any of this. They were tarred with the same brush and there are people who would like to say they are all the same. They are not all the same. People went on foreign missions and gave up their lives for that work. Parish priests and nuns in local convents are, unfortunately, getting to be a rare group of people. The number of masses has been cut and we are relying more and more on lay people to try to fill in with religious duties because not enough people are going into the priesthood or entering convents. I thank those respectable people. We all knew them when we were altar boys and were delighted to be participating in church duties. We thought it was an honour, and it was. We then heard about bad things happening in other places but they did not happen everywhere. I certainly would not ever want to see respectable priests and religious people being tarnished, painted or made out to be something they are not.

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