St John Ambulance abuse report
Deputy Murphy cited Dr. Shannon’s report on abuse at St. John Ambulance and said survivors still await action almost two years later. The Tánaiste thanked advocates, said he would speak directly to the Minister, and promised to come back to the Deputy.
It has been almost two years since the publication of Dr. Shannon's report on sex abuse of children at St. John Ambulance. The report makes for harrowing reading. The report found that a culture had facilitated the potential grooming of children and that the organisation had failed to intervene, despite knowing that the boys were at risk of abuse. It concluded that the organisation had failed to act against the perpetrator for years, despite "a significant degree of organisational awareness of the risk that he posed to children". Survivors who have bravely campaigned, spoken out about this and pushed for the report, including Mick Finnegan, have an apology but they have no accountability. There has been no accountability whatsoever. They are calling for a public inquiry into how this happened and how it was able to go on for so long. They want this to ensure that it cannot be repeated. Will the Government grant the survivors an inquiry?
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I thank Mick Finnegan for his incredible advocacy on this issue. He has been in Leinster House on many occasions because of his advocacy work. I sincerely thank him for that. I will speak directly to the Minister involved and I will come back to the Deputy.