Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also support Senator van Turnhout's call for the Minister to come to the House and hope the Cathaoirleach will look benignly on a request that rarely succeeds. In this instance, we are facing a crisis of enormous proportions.

I want to put on the record my appreciation of RTE's investigative unit, which has done itself and the country a great public service in highlighting what many of us involved in child care - I am chairman of the county Leitrim child care committee - suspected was happening in some parts of the country but were not sure to what extent. It amazes me, in the immediate aftermath of the report, that the Taoiseach and, more pertinently, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald - a former Member of the House - as well as the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, have not rushed to bring in the heads of the HSE to ask them to account for what has been going on. Why have they not brought them in? I could not help but reflect on my way in here that if the much-maligned former Taoiseach of the country, Charlie Haughey, was in office, not only would he bring in heads but he would ensure they rolled. It is time the Taoiseach and the Ministers, Deputy Reilly and Deputy Fitzgerald, came out from whatever cover they have been under over the past 24 hours, brought in the people concerned and asked them to account for what has happened. What we saw on television last night was shocking and appalling. As a parent and as someone who is involved in child care I cannot understand how something like that can happen in the country. We have lauded the development of our child care services over the past 15 years - in many cases, rightly so - but things such as this have been going on.

Yesterday I raised a matter on the Adjournment based on a report carried out by the Leitrim child care committee. Since 2004, 234 child care workers have taken FETAC courses to level 5 in child care but cannot continue to university standard because they cannot afford the part-time fees, which amount to €12,000 for a four-year bachelor of arts course at Sligo Institute of Technology. The people concerned are mainly women working in the home or in part-time occupations and are looking for some support from the Government. It should get its act together and not be crying crocodile tears over what happened and what we saw on television last night. Let us see some real action in this case. I was reminded of a Nazi concentration camp when I saw some of the things that went on and the abuse that was meted out to innocent children. The people concerned should not only be brought to account but be brought before the courts and charged with child abuse. I want to hear something from the other side on this. I do not want to hear any more platitudes or crocodile tears. I want some action, and it is past time something was done.