Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I express my shock at some of the remarks made about the latest Cloyne report, that we should not speak about it in the House and that we should delay a debate on it in order to have time to read it. As the House will be sitting next Tuesday afternoon, I do not see why we cannot debate it then. This is an urgent national issue. Child abuse is a most cruel act that also affects the victims' parents, families and friends. People's lives are destroyed by it. The Catholic Church cannot be above the law and must be responsible to the State. We have let off bankers and are now letting off church people. They must stand before the law and be treated accordingly. As has been said many times in this Chamber, these matters will not be resolved until the people see wrongdoers behind bars for the financial trauma endured by our little country and until the Catholic Church is made accountable and people are sent to prison for what they have done to children. They must increasingly be seen to be brought in shackled. I was quite shocked when I heard it said this morning that we should wait a while before having a discussion on the report. Have we become so anaesthetised to what was eloquently presented to us, with empathy, by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, and our former colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, who is an outstanding Minister? We need an urgent debate on the report with one of the two Ministers in attendance. We are a shame to the world. I cannot resist saying the Catholic Church is male-dominated. How many young men were sent away to become brothers or priests before their sexuality developed? I know sexual abuse is not confined to religious orders, but we must examine the issue. They were sent away at 12 or 13 years of age.