Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am pointing to the fact we did not previously have adequate or appropriate legislation to address the particular breach of trust of a person in authority. The contractual relationship with a person in authority was referred to. There is a relationship of trust and it is a damaging thing when it is broken. It is not simply the actual violence against or abuse or exploitation of an individual which takes place but also the damaging of that individual's trust of an institution. We saw it with the abuse within our education system. We saw it with the abuse that took place in the mother and baby homes. There is a clear issue here which is that we should recognise, and it is appropriate that this legislation has recognised, when that trust is breached. It is not simply the damage that is done to an individual as a result of the acts that take place but also the damage done to that individual's relationship with the institutions of the State in which they should be able to have free, open, proper and full relationships.

I recognise that there are valid concerns of where the ceilings for sentencing might be. I believe such concerns are valid and that in future we may need to look to them. That said, I welcome that this other issue has been addressed. It is something we have to look back to in terms of the failure of trust in our institutions. Much of it stems from the issue not being addressed previously.

This section points to one of the core aspects of the Bill that I imagine we will debate later, that is, the imbalance of power and the exploitation of power. That is a fundamental point we need to bear in mind. There is a particular exploitation of power. That is in both these separate cases. I believe both section 21 and section 22 move our Statute Book forward, and if not perfectly then at least in the right direction.