Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the opportunity to approve the motion to extend for a further eight months the investigative period of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.

This debate is taking place because it is necessary under the Act for both Houses of the Oireachtas to approve the order to extend the commission's term. While the Green Party is happy to do so, the order provides Members with another welcome opportunity to discuss child protection. A debate was held in the House recently, which was attended by the new Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with responsibility for children, Deputy Barry Andrews, in respect of serious concerns regarding child protection that arose from a recent "Prime Time Investigates" programme. It is fitting that Members should have another opportunity to discuss the issue today.

In this debate I wish to touch on the lessons that have accrued from the experience of setting up the commission, allowing it to carry out its work and, as it enters its final phase, allowing it to complete its report and make the necessary preparations for its publication. First, I refer to the expenditure on the commission. No one questions whether the commission provided a highly valuable function in investigating the abuses that occurred in institutions in Ireland between the 1940s and the present day. Moreover, it listened to the victims of childhood abuse who wished to recount their experiences, both for the therapeutic purposes of so doing and because it had the function of investigating fully all allegations made to it, except when a victim did not wish for an investigation.

The final stage of the commission's work will be to publish a report on its findings. The business of compiling such a report, to reflect accurately all the testimonies, documentation and so on that were made available to the commission during its existence, will constitute a significant body of work. The report should make clear and adequate recommendations in respect of such institutional abuse and deficits in the State's child protection system that will enable safeguards to be put in place to ensure that such situations never recur within the State's institutions or within State bodies.

As a result of the commission's findings, it is expected to make a number of recommendations on the issue of child protection. One such recommendation should make clear the system that is required in respect of reporting allegations. It has emerged from the commission's inquiries that there is an absolute need for a clear and statutory basis on which to report allegations of abuse. This does not simply refer to the residential institutions at which, in the main, the commission directed its attention. The issue must be broadened and, as other Members have mentioned, schools, for example, must be examined. I refer in particular to primary schools for which clear and official guidelines are required on reporting abuse. Moreover, sufficient training must be provided for staff members in such schools for so doing. One should not simply consider that the appointment of a single individual within a school with responsibility for this area means the issue has been catered for. Adequate training for staff is highly important in primary schools in particular, as well as in secondary schools.

Another issue that has arisen regarding schools concerns the vetting of teachers. This matter has been raised in the Dáil with particular emphasis on substitute teachers. While I understand that at present, more than 1,000 substitute teachers work in primary schools, the system to vet such teachers is non-existent. Such issues must be examined because the work of the commission and the highlighting of other issues by the media have led to the realisation that there is an absolute need for a strict vetting system for those who work in close proximity to children in a number of different sectors.

The Green Party hopes the commission's recommendations will help to put in place such a system and the Minister should act quickly on the basis of its recommendations. It is expected that the recommendations, or at least the commission's report, will be available in early 2009. The Minister should publish the report because of the work and expense that has gone into it. Moreover, its contents and the commission's recommendations should be made publically available because they will contain many lessons for everyone.

I also wish to comment on the model of the commission because it carried out highly important work and was structured in a manner that probably ensured that the functions and remit given to it were fulfilled properly. One of the ways in which this was achieved should be replicated in other such commissions set up by the Oireachtas in future. As the Minister of State noted, before the commission's formal establishment the Government set it up on an administrative basis in May 1999. Its first objective was to consider the broad terms of reference provided to it to ascertain whether they required refinement. Thereafter, the commission recommended to the Government the powers and protections it would require to do its work effectively. This is a very good model for the establishment of any commission. Moreover, the powers it was given enabled it to do its work. It had the protection that a court would enjoy, including privilege for witnesses and their compellability, discovery of documents, taking evidence on oath and offences for failure to co-operate or for obstruction.

While it is estimated that the expenditure on the commission up to the end of 2007 was €43.7 million, it also is estimated that an additional provision of approximately €45 million may be required to meet its remaining costs. Although the commission's work is extremely important, this is a substantial amount of money to spend. Therefore, I repeat it is important to get value for money. Whatever recommendations may be produced in the commission's report should be published and the Minister should act speedily on them. Lessons have been learned regarding the arrangement that was made with the religious institutions involved. Were the Oireachtas to set up a similar body, it is unlikely that the circumstances in which it would be set up would be similar in future. However, there have been learning opportunities for the State in this regard and in future, one should seek to make satisfactory arrangements to ensure the State is not writing a blank cheque when it establishes a body such as this. On behalf of the Green Party, I support the extension of the commission's term.