Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response and for how comprehensive it was. I am very grateful for it.

I will make just a quick correction. When I spoke earlier, in my emotion I referred to St. John Ambulance issuing proceedings in defence of proceedings and said it is accusing survivors of being liars and of all sorts of things. The fact that St. John Ambulance is defending what happened despite the findings of Dr. Shannon's report is in itself shameful.

I have empathy for people affected by this from early on in my life because in first year in school we were told that if we were to join the Red Cross, it would get us into nursing and that it was a pathway into nursing.I understand what it is like to be 13 years of age, become a cadet in St. John Ambulance and put oneself into that situation. I have that empathy. I am a major GAA supporter. I come from a Mayo mother and a Dublin father. For many years, I enjoyed the spectacle of the All-Ireland final. The Artane Boys Band coming out and playing and the emotion that went with the whole thing was the highlight of the year. Each year when the band comes out now, however, I think of all I read in the Ryan report and in the sounds of the Artane Band I hear the tears of the boys who were savaged in that institution. I stood beside Martin outside the St. John Ambulance. When reading this report, I think, dear God, these were young people filled with the optimism of youth, going to big events wearing their uniform and proud to play their part as first aiders and responders. For that optimism of life to be plucked away by one savage individual is outrageous. Any organisation that sought to cover that up, warn the few elite and leave that small cohort exposed to predatory sexual behaviour deserves to be pilloried. It is appalling. The organisation's carry-on is appalling. Until such time as the organisation has a clear and clean bill of health, it does not deserve to be at any sporting event. Not only will I hear the tears of the boys in the Artane Band as it plays, I will see the uniforms on the sideline and wonder what they have experienced.

We are discussing this issue in the Chamber but in the Public Gallery is an individual whose life experience this is. He lives this trauma. Anyone who has followed Mick’s tweets knows the trauma he has re-experienced and his fear that the report would not have the integrity he knew in his heart it required and would not vindicate him. Thankfully, the report has that integrity and it has vindicated him in a way that only Dr. Shannon, who is an extraordinary man, could.

The State has two defences to protect children from child sexual abuse. It has Tusla and the Children First Act and it has the Garda Síochána. I accept that Tusla's power is limited in respect of independent organisations that were not State funded but that limitation needs to be examined in the context of this report. Does Tusla have enough powers? It knows what it means when it writes a letter stating that it finds no problem or issue. Organisations, however, use their logo to cover up and to assist them. That is what happened with St. John Ambulance and it is not okay. On the day the report came out, I wrote to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, stating that it needed to hold a meeting on this issue, talk it out and explore it, not to criticise Tusla but to ensure it knows whether there are gaps and, if so, to deal with them.

How many prosecutions have there been for withholding information? Prosecution for a failure of mandatory reporting is not possible but it is for withholding information. How many people have been prosecuted for that? I guarantee it is very few. I devilled and worked in the criminal courts on sexual abuse cases. We cannot have a situation where the reputation of an organisation and its elite leaders comes ahead of anything else. Since the 1990s at least, there is no excuse for any organisation not to look at itself and ask whether an allegation is possible and to root out sexual abuse. There is no excuse for it.

I will give my final words to Mick Finnegan, who is an extraordinary individual of extraordinary courage. The State owes him a debt of gratitude, but it also owes him a debt of action now.