I commend the immense courage of all of those who have come forward in recent weeks to disclose abuse by the Spiritans and other religious orders following the powerful "Blackrock Boys" documentary on RTÉ radio. I thank the Taoiseach for agreeing at my request to schedule a debate on these allegations and the horrific and widespread abuse that appears to have been perpetrated. In advance of that debate, we must acknowledge the need for a public inquiry arising out of the disclosures of abuse. We owe it to survivors, many of whom have contacted me and my colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, in recent days. An inquiry is necessary not only to uncover the scale of the abuse but also to examine the cover-up. It must be a survivor-led inquiry and may have to extend beyond one order because it seems that organisations other than the Spiritans were also involved. We can, if necessary, approach the inquiry process in a modular fashion. I ask the Taoiseach to commit to meeting the survivors and hearing from them what is now needed.

A Member of the other House has been in touch with me about meeting survivors and I have no difficulty in doing that. I have said we are open to a debate next week. We need to discuss the matter but we do not in any way wish to impact any prosecutions that may take place. We also need to discuss the most effective way to inquire into the matter. It is shocking and sickening, especially when one considers the scale of it. As the Deputy said, there may have been a premeditated attempt to cover it up.