Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

Perhaps we are all children of the universe. I remember meeting the Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, as a child. He was not a Minister of State then. He was a young fellow and I do not know whether he was in short pants. I cannot quite remember that much. I believe he was on the rugby field at the time.

Senator Cannon made a number of very interesting points. He said the context of the debate frames the debate, and I agree. The programme for Government refers to a day of atonement. I urge the Minister of State to consider this. A day of atonement is very important and would help us all.

I previously called for a Seanad debate in a location such as Letterfrack, which I have investigated. I have talked to the local community there. It would be very proactive to bring the Oireachtas to places relevant to this debate. We need to be proactive and work with communities. There is nothing better the Oireachtas can do than work with the people who are relevant to this debate.

It would be very poignant to have a debate in a place such as Letterfrack. It is a very powerful place and a very suitable place for it. Having discussed the matter with the local community recently, I noted there is a lot of hurt in that community. Many children were hurt there and the hurt remains today. The people are very clear about the fact that the institution in Letterfrack, which is so notorious, no longer exists. It has a new purpose and is now part of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

The people of Letterfrack say we must look at the matter from a past-present-future point of view. We must recognise and accept what occurred in society and move on from it. We must accept where we are in the present and the fact that child abuse has not gone away and will probably always be with us. We need to minimise it to the greatest possible extent and put in place as many checks and balances as possible, including having a Minister of State responsible for children, which is very important, and an ombudsman for children. It is also important to have proper institutions and checks and balances to ensure the blind eyes turned to child abuse in the past cannot be turned to it today. We must always be vigilant. We cannot just assume child abuse occurred in the past and will never occur again. If we do so, we will leave ourselves very much open to its recurrence.

Senator Cannon stated the first anniversary of the issuing of the Ryan report is tomorrow. It is fantastic that the report has been published. It would not have been published many years ago. Those who say the Government can do or has done nothing should note the report has been published. The Government is seeking to implement its recommendations and that is very important.

A number of Senators referred to the referendum on children. It is very unfortunate that the debate on the referendum has got tied up with the debate on by-elections. This is very wrong. The referendum needs to be held at the earliest possible juncture and with all-party agreement. I urge the Minister of State to proceed with full haste to hold the referendum as early as possible because it is crucial that children's rights be enshrined in the Constitution in a way that a large majority of the people can support. This is important and achievable. The referendum should be decoupled from the three by-elections which are to be held on the same date. The debate on the by-elections is political and is hampering what is a very important referendum.

The Seanad can contribute greatly to child protection and Members must work on an all-party basis. Bringing politics and religion into the debate is wrong. It is a societal and community issue.