Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One rotten apple spoils the barrel, or so the saying goes, but it should not. Every party, like every large organisation, is going to have members with history, problems and secrets. The true measure of a party is not about whether it has these rotten apples, it is how it deals with them. Nowhere is this more critical than when it comes to the safety and protection of our children. What we have seen in recent weeks, whether the McMonagle affair, the recent exodus of TDs amid claims of censorship and kangaroo courts, or indeed a Senator sending inappropriate texts to a child, Sinn Féin's management of the issues has been highly flawed. Whether in opposition or as a Minister of State, I have been on the record when it comes to the importance of safeguarding and holding organisations and people to account when failures occur. Sinn Féin representatives have stood in this House criticising the Government when issues of safeguarding arise, and rightly so. However, the Government at all times is transparent in how the issues are being addressed and the victims supported. Now that the spotlight is on Sinn Féin for such issues, this could not be further from the truth. Whether flip-flopping on the criminality of issues, leaving the British Heart Foundation in a very exposed position or ever-changing timelines at a time when transparency is so important, an acknowledgment of failures is required upfront and a readiness to address issues openly should be to the fore. Instead, the course of action from Sinn Féin appears to be one of delay, dismiss and deflect.

Sinn Féin says is the party of change, it says. If the change if offers in government is one which involves underhanded and shady ways of dealing with controversies, taking matters into its own hands and ignoring legal processes, to do away with transparency and operate in a culture of secrecy and then get offended when people ask for clarity regarding its paedophile press officer, censorship of party members, kangaroo courts, its Senator inappropriately texting a teenager, party cliques who play law and order instead of honouring due process, not to mention its members currently in prison and their gangland involvement, I urge an abundance of caution in allowing it anywhere near Government buildings.

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