Irish society must “fully face up to” to the wrongs that were done to children while under the care of the State, the Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe has said. In a statement issued after the publication of a damning report by the Commission into Child Abuse which detailed a catalogue of abuses inflicted on young people who attended industrial schools and institutions since the 1940s, Mr O’Keeffe said “unfortunately, we cannot undo the wrongs of the past”.
“However, as a responsible and caring society, we must fully face up to the fact that wrong was done and we must learn from the mistakes of the past,” he said.
Mr O’Keefee extended his “sincere and profound sympathy” to those who were subjected to abuse while resident in industrial schools or other places, saying “as children, they should have felt safe and protected”.
In a joint statement, Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter and Brian Hayes said the report revealed an "appalling litany" of sexual abuse, physical brutality and neglect of children perpetrated in institutions throughout the State for decades.
“It is scandalous that even at this stage in the context of the information disclosed that some religious congregations, such as the Christian Brothers and the Brothers of Charity, whilst acknowledging that some abuse took place in institutions for which they were responsible deny congregational responsibility for such abuse,” they said.
“This is so even where it is clear that known abusers were moved from one institution to another and reports of abuse were covered up,” they added.
Labour senator Alex White said the report depicted “a truly shocking and sordid saga of the systematic abuse and neglect of thousands of Irish children who were handed over by the State into the custody of religious orders”.
“It is very clear from this report that the State and the Religious Institutions share the blame for the terrible treatment meted out to these children,” he said.
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