Rose Conway-Walsh demands broader probe into child abuse
Rose Conway-Walsh criticised the delayed establishment of the Commission of Investigation and urged its terms to be expanded to examine physical abuse in schools and ensure timely redress for survivors. She welcomed the commission but said it must be victim-centred and called for schools and institutions to make significant financial contributions to any redress scheme.
Commission overdue
The speaker welcomed the establishment of the Commission of Investigation but said it is long overdue, noting that many victims will never live to see this day. She highlighted Louise O'Keefe's struggle to hold the state to account and accused this government and its predecessors of knowing for decades about horrendous abuse.
Calls to expand scope
She urged that the terms of the commission be expanded or that an additional commission be created to investigate the physical abuse of children in schools. The minister was challenged on why such investigations have not been undertaken and on the absence of trauma supports and a forum for survivors' truths.
Accounts of abuse in schools
The speaker described harrowing accounts from elderly men and women of daily torture and said recent broadcasts on RTE Liveline recount abuse of children as young as five. She rejected the label of corporal punishment and insisted that the physical mistreatment was torture, facilitated by schools and by the state.
Redress and timeliness
She warned against the long delays seen in previous inquiries and redress schemes, noting the mother and baby institutions payment scheme only opened for applications this year despite the commission first meeting in 2015. The minister was urged to ensure there is not a decade-long wait for redress and that schools and institutions contribute significantly to any scheme while the commission gathers evidence.
Victim-centred approach and tribute
The speaker paid tribute to children who felt voiceless and demanded answers from state authorities who failed to question those responsible. She raised related issues cited in the speech, including forced adoption, medical experimentation and trials, and called for a survivor-focused investigation and redress process.
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I welcome the establishment of the Commission of Investigation, but unfortunately, as you know, it is long overdue. The reality is that we will never know how many victims are not alive to see this day. Louise O'Keefe had to fight tooth and nail to hold the state to account for the abuse that she suffered. This government and its predecessors have known for decades of the horrendous abuse that was endured by children who should have been in a safe place. Yet you are only setting up the Commission of Investigation now, and I do welcome it. I want to pay tribute to those children who for years felt that they had no voice, that they were not listened to, with state authorities failing to question those responsible. They have questions to answer too. What sort of a society turns a blind eye to a child making an accusation of sexual abuse? Perhaps a society in which it is permissible to lock up women for the crime of pregnancy. A society which offered children of those women up for forced adoption, and even for medical experimentation and trials. A society where physical abuse of children was commonplace. Why will the government not investigate the physical abuse of children in schools? We all know it happened. You only have to listen to RTE Liveline in recent weeks to hear the torture that was inflicted on children as young as five. And yes, that was torture, and it was facilitated by our schools, and it was facilitated by our state. Where are the trauma supports for them? Where is the forum for their truths to be heard? The harrowing stories told by elderly men and women of the torture they were subjected to day after day. This was not corporal punishment. Let's call it what it was. It was torture of children. The terms of the commission should be expanded, or an additional commission created to make these investigations. In terms of the inquiry into the sexual abuse, what redress will be available to victims? We have seen huge delays in the past commissions in setting up redress schemes. The mother and baby institutions payment scheme only opened for applications this year. That commission first met in 2015. Minister, you must ensure that there is not a decade of delay in a redress scheme being established, and you must ensure that the schools at which abuse took place and the institutions make significant financial contributions to the redress scheme. This must be done in tandem with the commission gathering evidence. Minister, it is a sorry state of play that we are here again. I welcome this commission, but it must be victim-centred. That is the only way to operate it. Dr Cronin.
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