I thank the Minister of State for being here. I want to draw to his attention what is not happening within Scouting Ireland. The problem is this is a legacy issue that goes back to the 1980s. I went to one of the same schools as many of these people did. It is about abuse and a specific teacher who got ten years in jail for raping young boys predominantly as a schoolteacher, a scout leader and a scout commissioner for the diocese of Cloyne. He also ran the summer camp in Mount Melleray. Back in 2018 or 2019, Scouting Ireland put out a notice asking that anybody who was affected by this should make contact with it so those people who were directly affected by this individual could engage in a process where they might get some solace. However, I met with a survivor very recently and he told me that back as far as 2019 he contacted Scouting Ireland but he has never heard anything from the organisation. At the time he was a minor so Tusla was involved. The individual told me he would have a better chance emptying the Red Sea with a bucket with no ass in it than getting any help from Tusla. He has told me Scouting Ireland has changed its legal team, possibly twice, since 2019 when he brought the abuse to its attention. His legal team, which he has to pay, feel they have been stalled and they cannot get any answers to this. This was reported on a number of times and I will quote one or two of the headlines to give the Minister of State what was in the public domain. One was "Man repeatedly raped by teacher in classroom as an 11-year-old boy seeks apology over vile attacks". That individual when he was old enough - because, again, he did not get any answers - left the country and tried to make a new life for himself somewhere else. The unfortunate thing is that I know four, possibly five, who left as well over the craic with this, but they left through suicide.
Sentiment score: -0.18
I did not name anybody. I am well aware of that. I thank the Acting Chair. The case about the schoolteacher is well documented. What I am trying to raise here, as the individual asked me to do, is to find out what recourse this person and others have right now. We have learned nothing from the mother and baby home scandal. What can I tell this individual? Somebody is going to tell me that it is a legal issue. Scouting Ireland is being paid taxpayers' money. For starters, I would like to know how much it has spent defending the indefensible. How much has it paid out in legal costs, again trying to bury what has happened? In 1982 The Stranglers' "Golden Brown" was No. 1. I was not thrown out of the school for standing up, but they said to me that they would much prefer if I did not come back after the Easter holidays. I am speaking from personal experience. I knew this individual. He was a nasty individual. I am not here for kudos for me. What I am trying to get is information on behalf of those who are still alive, and still brave enough to talk up, who are being stone-walled left, right and centre. Scouting Ireland has been deplorable, absolutely diabolical. It has spent more time, energy and money trying to bury this when the person got ten years in jail for it. Scouting Ireland is not doing what it is supposed to do, which is to look after those who were interfered with by this teacher. Where do I go?
Sentiment score: 0.06
I thank the Minister of State. I want to let the Acting Chair know that the perpetrator is now deceased and the name is already in the public domain. I thank the Minister of State for the response from the Minister's office. Every time I come in here, we do not know everything. I see in the response that €251,000 was ring-fenced for safeguarding. I would say Scouting Ireland has spent a lot more than €251,000 on it. The response also states that the organisation adheres to national child protection guidelines and procedures. I am going to look at them and see whether that is the case because a lot of people are coming to me saying that they have been ignored for years. In addition, we are told the organisation's board reviews the child safeguarding policy to ensure it abides by all legal requirements and has written procedures in place. I would like to see the written procedures because this individual rang seven years ago and was referred to Tusla, and that is where it stopped. I am concentrating on this one individual because they gave me the most information. Their life has been ruined. The trauma is still ongoing. The person is very happily married and they have children. They are lucky to still be in a good working relationship in life. All this individual and others want are answers to why they were not safeguarded and why they were not facilitated with help once the reporting started and it all went into the public domain. This issue was raised in July 2003, March 2004 and the most recent article was in 2017. It is not a big secret, but what I am trying to find out is who I can go to in order to make sure that Scouting Ireland lives up to its responsibility and gives these people and others a proper response, and stops stalling and wasting money by using senior counsel and stalling the process in court houses and changing legal counsel to take it on again. It is only costing these people money. I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I will get on to the Minister myself as well. I thank him for his response.
Sentiment score: 0.06