Michael Shine was an abuser who was well known for decades hiding in plain sight. There have been multiple failures, whether we are talking about Our Lady of Lourdes, Medical Missionaries of Mary, the Garda, successive Departments of Health and by the State and many Governments. We all welcome the scoping exercise by Lorcan Staines. There has been good engagement by the survivors and victims. However, it only matters if it provides what is needed, which is a full public inquiry that provides the absolute truth in relation to what happened and beyond what happened, why it happened and why it continued to happen for so long. Like many others, I was very taken when I listened to the stories of the likes of Larry, Cianan, Gerard, Peter and Ian. Many of us were at that presentation and many others over the years by those survivors. We are talking about Dignity4Patients, which has done huge work on delivering where we are today. It represents 398 men and two women. We know that the group represents a lot more. We cannot even imagine how many were abused by Michael Shine. I reiterate what Deputy Byrne said about the absolute necessity for funding, but also that notice goes out for those who still have not spoken and need to that Dignity4Patients and others are there to provide that support. This is back to the Government. It is about ensuring that the scoping exercise does what it is supposed to and that we find a means of providing people with the full powers of inquiry that are required.

Sentiment score: 0.13