Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

It is with a heavy heart that I speak about the horror story emerging from the Murphy report. It is certainly not bedtime reading. Having studied the Ryan report and now this report some months later, it is very sad that our society has come to this point. Regrettably, this has been ongoing for most of my lifetime. I recall a tale told to me as a student in 1973 or 1974 by a visiting medical expert from the mid-west in the United States. He was visiting west Cork because of his Irish connections. Over a turf fire, he related to my late father the story of a clerical person who had gone to Chicago or Boston to seek guidance or assistance following the abuse of a young lad. He did not say it in a condescending way because he was a Catholic. However, my father would not believe it and went to his grave believing it had been a concocted story because - God be good to the man - he saw no wrong. He said the rosary every night. I was 17 or 18 years old at the time and it resonates with me that if this information was available at the time, what we see documented in the report also happened in the 1960s and 1970s. It is appalling.

The response of the archbishop, bishops and others concerned - I will not name individuals - must have a greater impact. Therefore, more needs to be done within the church. I said on the Order of Business the other day that structural damage had been done to the church as an institution - that is my deeply held view. I am not saying I am a great Christian or Catholic; I still have deep faith but this damage will have to be repaired. However, the State can only do so much. Ireland was known internationally as the island of saints and scholars. If people read the Ryan report, this and further reports which no doubt will be published, it will take future generations a long time to have the same trust and faith in the church that people had in the past.

There was a big furore over the incident involving the then Bishop of Kerry but that was petty compared to cases in which there was interference with children.