Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I thank Senator Tuffy for sharing her time. She spoke about the Government and the commission reviewing their roles. It is time everybody looked at the current situation and this debate is useful in that regard.

Clearly, things have gone wrong with the structure that was set up and the way it has proceeded. That is not to say the structure is at fault but the input into it and the role of other parties, particularly the religious orders and the Government, are not working. It is time for the orders and the Government to stand back and look at what we are trying to achieve. Unless that happens, we will continue to be mired in this intractable process and we will not achieve the ambition we had when setting up the commission, that the victims of institutional abuse would not only get redress for that abuse but also that there would be closure for them and for us, as a society, on this serious issue. It is extremely important that this should happen.