Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

I welcome the fact that there is going to be an investigation into the handling of child sexual abuse in schools over many years. Many lives have been destroyed as a result of the abuse people suffered in schools in this State.

I have a number of issues with the terms of reference of the commission. The definition of "child sexual abuse" provided is problematic. How that wording is used is unacceptable and is insulting to victims. It does not recognise the gravity of the crime. It is a one-dimensional definition. It leaves out the perspective of the child completely. Much sexual abuse is carried out as a result of a person seeking to have power over another individual. Will sexual abuse for the motivation of enforcing power be included in the scope of this investigation? It does not seem so under the current definition.

A child can never give consent. When sexual abuse happens, children are exploited, used, forced and coerced. We need to be careful and sensitive about the language used. We also have a problem with commissions of investigation and the time they take to make decisions and facilitate justice. The Government, in these terms of reference, is providing the commission of investigation with the ability to do the same thing over and over again. That is free rein and discretion with regard to how long the investigation can take. The Government has not set a limit in the terms of reference regarding the time it will take to do what is envisaged. That is a difficulty. So many of these investigations over the years have gone on and on. The terms of reference need to be watertight. We need to make sure that we do not have runaway timescales and multiple deadline extensions and delays.

I know for a fact that it will be many years before this investigation is going to be over. The reality is that many of the people affected will be dead by the time a decision is made. We believe there should be a permanent office of public investigation to ensure that we build capacity to do this work to a high standard and in an efficient, timely manner. The Minister is setting the timescale for this investigation to cover the period from 1927 to 2013, but she will also allow for discretion to reduce that period in respect of part of the investigation or in respect of any school.

The other aspect that I have difficulty with is that this investigation will not make any statements of fact. This is a problem. The crime of sexual abuse demands a statement of fact. Perpetrators of sexual abuse should be jailed. The Garda should be carrying out this investigation and making sure that those perpetrators are brought to justice. Unfortunately, at the end of all of this, we will not have justice for anybody in this country.

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