Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate the welcome I gave when I was in the Chair to Mr. Mick Finnegan. A person who has been abused should not have to continue to fight over decades to get justice, but that is what we are seeing. Every Senator in the Chamber has signed this motion, which shows the strength of feeling there is and that we want to show support to victims in this particular instance, as well as the victims of abuse in other institutions on this island who have come forward in recent days, weeks and months. We need the truth to come out. I have every confidence in Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, who has examined the matter in detail. I have no doubt his report will be a good one.

The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and I recently visited Barnahus in Galway, which is a centre for children who are victims of sexual abuse. We were very impressed with the centre, the working of which will be followed in other centres across the country. It is a model we can follow for children who are sexual abuse survivors.

The added element in the cases we are discussing is that the institutions involved had an important position within Irish society. There is a class element to this. Victims were ignored for decades and there is a sense that some people matter and others do not. That is not acceptable and the House is saying so today. I certainly would like to see the report published but I agree with the Leader that we also need a more detailed inquiry. We must ensure Tusla is properly funded to deal with these cases. Since the Minister took office and we went into government, an extra €110 million in funding has been given to Tusla. That shows the level of commitment from the Minister.

We could speak about this issue every day in the Seanad but what we really want to see is action and progress on it. I would welcome an opportunity for another debate when the report is published in order to examine it and discuss what the next steps should be. I thank the Leader for pushing this motion and ensuring it has cross-party support. It means something when everybody is signed up to a proposal.