The abuse of aspiring young sports people was not confined to the swimming sphere, Mr Michael Lanigan (FF) said. There had been a number of highly publicised cases and the parents of abused children were to be accorded an official meeting, he added. But such happenings had occurred not only in swimming clubs, but in GAA and rugby clubs and in every sporting circle.
Mr Lanigan said it should also be borne in mind that institutionalised violence had been committed against orphan children, who had been physically and sexually abused for many years and who had had no parents to whom they could turn for comfort and solace.
Such violence had not been confined to a small number of incidents. "In my home town great depravity took place in institutions over many years. This is being addressed through the courts, but we must face it as a society."
The publicised cases might result in the IASA being taken to task, which would be beneficial to a small group of people. But we should remember that, as a society we had failed orphans and those placed in the care of institutions. We should address the broader issue of how we cared for children in our society and how we could ensure that such young people in institutions were not abused.
Mr Lanigan was responding to a statement by Ms Therese Ridge (FG) who said she welcomed Minister McDaid's offer to affected parents in relation to the abuse of young swimmers over a long period of time. Ms Ridge urged the Minister, on behalf of the parents and the victims, to ensure that if the findings of any inquiry were not satisfactory to them, he would proceed to institute a judicial inquiry "into the whole awful scene".