Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's response. It is comforting to know that conversations are happening in the background on how we can move forward and pursue this, even in terms of answering my request about an inquiry. I would like to put on the record why I mentioned a scoping inquiry. I looked at the Scally report, which I know related to CervicalCheck and which is a different issue, and it was a really good way to take a transparent and victim-led approach to reporting. As the Minister said, the incident is historical but the effects are lifelong. Over the past few months, in looking at how we can move forward in terms of an inquiry, I have had many conversations. This was much wider than the people who have been most impacted, such as those who contacted the Minister. It would seem abuse within St. John Ambulance was tolerated at the highest level of that organisation. Therefore, even though a particular individual is not there any more, we need to look at the structures which supported and facilitated that individual for such a long period of time. According to one account, which was given to me, it was an open secret. It was like everybody knew, but nobody knew. That was a very strong statement to hear from somebody. That is why, even with the current risk being mitigated with the particular individual being gone, we need to look at why it was allowed persist for so many generations and at how many others have, I am sure, been impacted.