Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill and the Minister of State to the House. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, for the comprehensive overview of the Bill which is welcome. I agree with Senator Norris that the records in regard to abuse indicate that much of it occurred within the family. It is important that this legislation deals with the areas that went unchecked for many years.

I recall a case not long ago where a family made a complaint about their nine or ten year old child who had an intellectual disability to four organisations: the bus company, the people who had subcontracted to the bus company, the school the child attended and the Garda, but no action was taken for ten days.

That person contacted a public representative, who subsequently contacted me. It was only when we threatened to arrange for the child to be transferred to the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, to have the child examined that action was taken by any of the four organisations. That incident did not occur very long ago. In a subsequent investigation, a person pleaded guilty and served four and a half years. It shows the detail of how far we have come in taking complaints seriously and putting in place proper procedures. Much work has been done on a voluntary basis in recent years, making sure the proper practices are in place and that people assisting and in charge of children had gone through the proper checks. The legislation is welcome as it puts what is required on a statutory footing. It puts an obligation on the organisations to comply with regulations essential to the care of children when they are with people other than their parents.

It is important that the legislation, particularly section 15, ensures a balance in order that when specified information becomes available the person who it relates to has the opportunity to deal with it and has the right of reply. If the person is unhappy with a decision under the Bill, he or she has a right of appeal. It is important proper procedures are followed and the legislation clearly sets it out, particularly in section 15. The Minister of State covered this point in her address.

We must constantly monitor this legislation. That the Bill has been passed does not mean we have crossed all the t's and dotted the i's. There may be a need for review. Our responsibilities do not end when legislation is in place. It is an ongoing process and one we need to keep under review. We have made much progress in the area in the past ten or 15 years. It is important to make sure proper procedures are followed by various organisations looking for information. I remember advising organisations in which people felt they had followed the proper procedures. I insisted they go back to the start because they did not follow all procedures and did not give a proper hearing to the person whose background they were looking into. I advised a number of organisations to start again from scratch.

The legislation sets out clear guidelines on how vetting is to proceed. The Garda Commissioner will appoint the head of the bureau and there will be a certain independence. Legislation is required to ensure that what was done on a voluntary basis is put on a statutory footing. This is welcome and it is important that back-up support is provided. The issue of the backlog was raised and it is important to address it at an early stage. The last thing any organisation needs is for the work of the many people in the voluntary sector to be held up because they do not have the answers it requires in a short period of time.