Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

This is an important debate and although I was not in the House until half an hour ago, I followed the discussion on the monitor. I am aware of the speech delivered by my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. There is nothing she said with which I disagree and since the Government was formed, she and I have been working together in the interests of protecting children. I have listened to the speeches and nuances and it would be a terrible shame if this House divided on today's motion. I am conscious that the Dáil did not divide despite the nuances in the speeches delivered. This is too serious an issue to bring about a division. We should stand united in both Houses and focus on one issue, the protection of our children.

When I read the Cloyne report I said that in publishing it I felt a terrible sense of despair. That sense of despair derived from the fact that we have gone through two decades of promises that our children would be protected. The sense of despair derived from the personal stories told in that report of what happened to victims. It derived from the fact that up to the end of 2008, the promises made that systems were in place to protect children had not only been violated but there had been a terrible breach of faith. Individuals who made a public presentation of concern were engaged in a private agenda of cover-up and denial. That is unforgivable.

I come from a minority religious tradition and I have no ill to bear against the Catholic Church or any other tradition on this island. Senators will be aware that for many years I have been equally critical of the State in its failings with regard to child care. There are failings disclosed in the Cloyne report on the part of the State but the greater failings by far were on the part of the church. There was a terrible breach of faith on the church's part which I know from communications I received is a cause of terrible concern and stress to many good people and parish priests within the Catholic Church, who themselves feel betrayed.

I am conscious that, like others, I am limited in what I can say because of time constraints. It is important to set the record straight in the context of debate which has occurred both in this House and outside it since the publication of the report. The framework document of 1996, referred to in page 48 of the report, recites what was understood to be the intention of the church. It states "In all instances where it is known or suspected that a child has been, or is being, sexually abused by a priest or religious the matter should be reported to the civil authorities." From the perspective of the State it was understood that this would occur.

What the State did not know as we went through the 1990s to the early 2000s was that the Irish bishops, having sought recognition from Rome for the framework document, discovered that not only was it not forthcoming but the papal nuncio in 1997, writing to the bishops and detailing the view of the congregation for the clergy, essentially warned them against applying the provisions in the framework document. In particular, the papal nuncio noted "In particular, the situation of 'mandatory reporting' gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature." He went on to say that "the procedures established by the code of canon law must be meticulously followed under pain of invalidity of the acts involved if the priest so punished were to make hierarchical recourse against the bishop."

The Cloyne report records "There can be no doubt that this letter greatly strengthened the position of those in the church in Ireland who did not approve of the framework documentas it effectively cautioned them against its implementation." It went on to record the view of Monsignor O'Callaghan, which was not just influenced by that document. There has been a misrepresentation of the history of this. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in May 2001 made a very specific statement that with regard to allegations of child abuse which reached the threshold of "a semblance of truth", they should be first referred directly to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome so the body could advise on how it should be dealt with in Ireland.

There has been a misrepresentation to suggest that in 2001, that body agreed the framework document provision under which there was an undertaking to give a report to the civil authority. The reality is the body did not support the framework document and the Cloyne report records that Monsignor O'Callaghan's view of the 2001 instruction, as expressed in a letter of April 2002, was that: "the subtext was the need for the procedures in canon law which will respect the rights of the accused priest." The reality is the rights of the accused priests were put before the protection of children. It was not until 2010 that a different approach was referred to.

When it comes to dealing with this issue, our priority must be the protection of children. A moral theologian, in a recent article in The Irish Times, made a pretence that in 2001 the church had made a decision in the Vatican that there should be reports to the civil authority. The excuse for a lack of such reports was that the State had not introduced legislation in Ireland which made-----