Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being here this morning.

It is never an easy topic to talk about and I am aware that the Minister is probably well briefed on the issue that I am talking about this morning.

I will begin by saying that when I speak this morning to the subject, I am speaking about historic abuse in terms of St. John Ambulance. I am not speaking to any particular cases that are currently ongoing, any particular civil case or any other prosecution.A Tusla report, however, has indicated that the allegations are well founded, and an independent appeals panel upheld the findings of the report. The acknowledgement of the allegations of historical child abuse and rape within St. John Ambulance makes me very concerned that, over the decades, more people may have been sexually abused than those who have come forward or who are proceeding with a civil case against a perpetrator.

I have a request to make of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Before bringing the Minister in here today, we did our work to see who would be responsible for a scoping exercise. We looked at the Department of Justice and Equality. In the past, there was a reference to the Charities Regulator. We are quite confident that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs is responsible for holding a scoping inquiry given that it was child sexual abuse in St. John Ambulance over the last 30 to 40 years, which is the length of the career of an individual who has worked in the organisation. It is safe to assume there are more cases than the number currently known about. Usually with these matters, we are only ever scratching the surface in terms of knowing how many have been abused. We owe it to all the young people who signed up in good faith and wanted to volunteer with St. John Ambulance to uncover what was done to them. I refer not only to our being able to support victims of sexual abuse within St. John Ambulance but also to ensuring that we reach a point where we can hold people to account for the abuse the young teenagers endured.

Since allegations of the kind in question have come to light, St. John Ambulance has implemented child protection measures. I have been told there was some resistance in the beginning to measures such as Garda vetting. All these issues have been sorted but, regardless of child protection measures within an organisation, the law still applies to any organisation in which there is child sexual abuse. The law should protect individuals, including young people, who have been victims of child sexual abuse.

I hope the Minister can determine the capacity of his Department to carry out a scoping inquiry so we can create the necessary space, facilitate a conversation and encourage others who are affected by abuse carried out within St. John Ambulance while they volunteered there as teenagers. I hope we can work together to establish an inquiry.