Results 61-80 of 11,242 for speaker:Noel Dempsey

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the matter of the third interim report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and related issues. Prior to commenting on the content of the report, it is necessary to remind the House that the Government is the first in the history of the State to listen to the victims of abuse, apologise to them on behalf of the State and take positive...

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: I am sure a copy will be made available as soon as possible.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: The normal——

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will know, this debate was not intended to take place until 8.30 p.m. While there may be difficulties providing copies of my speech, I am sure Members will receive them as soon as possible. While I apologise to Members of the House, the Government did not request that the debate be moved to this time. It was trying to facilitate members of the Opposition. I thank...

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: It was well aware of it.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: It did not. There were other earlier programmes.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: The series of questions posed by the Deputy related to the discovery order to which I have referred over the past few days. A total of 35 people from the Department plus 14 lawyers are employed specifically to comply with the direction. I hope we will be able to meet the needs of the commission in this regard, although it has proven difficult in the past because of the nature of the request....

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: We are talking about documents which the Department might have had 50, 60 or 70 years ago, although we do not know whether it did — if it did, they may have been lost as far back as the middle of the Second World War — and that might have been relevant. Any reasonable person trying to meet a request such as this would find it very difficult. Notwithstanding the difficulties involved, we...

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: This is part of the difficulty. Everybody on the opposite side of the House wants to ignore what the commission's report said about some of the difficulties that have occurred. It said that some were caused because the Department did not put enough resources in place. I have accepted that we were on a learning curve. We tried as best we could. At the time I had only been in the Department for...

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: ——were handed over to the commission. The commission said that there was insufficient clarity in the directions. It also stated that it may not have allowed sufficient time for the Department to retrieve the documents. That is also a reasonable explanation and I compliment the commission on its even-handed manner in dealing with the issue.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: At all times departmental officials complied with the orders to the best of their ability. They would not know until the commission summoned them that they had not complied because they were acting in accordance with legal advice. I was kept informed and apprised by officials at any stage that difficulties arose.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: Deputy O'Sullivan gets nothing but straight answers from me. She may not like them but that is what she gets.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: Why were the resources agreed in principle not supplied? It was up to the commission to take up the resources it requested. It did not take them up.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: Ms Justice Laffoy felt that, because the review was ongoing, she would not seek further resources. She also felt that the investigation committee should not carry on further work. She did not take up the resources. That is why there were——

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: No, it was not. The Deputies are wrong. In December, there was approval in principle for the resources which she never took up.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: Those are the facts.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: Perhaps, if Deputies took the time to read the report——

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: ——instead of rushing out to make statements within an hour of its publication, they might have a better grasp of the facts.

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: What extra resources will I make available to the commission? I will wait to see whether the commission, under Mr. Justice Ryan, requests extra resources. Whatever resources are needed will be made available to him. What extra resources will be made available in the Department of Education and Science to meet discovery orders? Extra resources will not be necessary to be made available in the...

Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse: Statements. (3 Feb 2004)

Noel Dempsey: I did not say that the provision of the 500,000 pages was a resolution of the issue. I used it as an illustration to show that the Department had nothing to hide and wanted to make everything available to the commission that it possibly——