A ministry for reform - An engine to drive our recovery

OF course the Roscommon abuse report was harrowing, of course it made anyone who ever held a child angry.

Unfortunately, we knew this would be the case ever before the report was published. Evidence given at the parents’ trials suggested another litany of betrayal and torture was about to be unveiled.

When the Roscommon report was published, frighteningly more than two decades after the children were first abused, it took its place in the considerable record of this society’s failings. And there is no comfort in the idea that many of these are unintentional.

It can take its place with the Murphy Report, the Mayo incest case, the Ferns Report, the McColgan cases in Sligo, the Kelly Fitzgerald case, the Dublin Diocesan Report, the investigation into the deaths of Tracey Fay and David Foley, and all of the others who died while in State care and all the other shaming indictments. In its way it can join the 13-year-old Moriarty Tribunal and the plodding investigation into how the banks destroyed our economy.

Even though our self-confidence may be at a low ebb we must absorb what went on in Roscommon if we are to, like any civilised society must, ensure that such satanic abuse is not facilitated by official inaction or ineffectiveness. These children were not abandoned because of a lack of resources. Rather their torture continued because of mismanagement and misplaced trust. They were abused because our procedures or services were not fit for purpose.

At this point it has become traditional to point the finger at public servants — even the innocent ones — but we are well beyond that stage. The bigger picture demands a different, more strident approach.

All of these tragic cases, and all the suboptimal performances in much of our civic life, are symptoms of a far greater malaise. Ireland’s prospects of rejuvenation are undermined by the stasis blocking the reforms in how government and citizens interact. Any prospect of recovery is threatened by the absolute lack of urgency or moral outrage in confronting arrangements that are utterly wasteful and self-serving.

In the context of protecting children we are still, almost two years after the relevant report was published, ducking and diving about a referendum. Benchmarking was introduced over a decade ago and we’re still waiting for the promised reforms. The Croke Park deal — and it looks shakier and shakier every day — seems to be the starting point for another round of consultations, reports and prevarication; another quagmire to drown opposition. Surely there must be a point when the talking stops and reform is delivered?

The Labour party has suggested — as have we — the idea of a minister for reform. A minister with all the power needed to intrude, demand and ultimately impose change. If done properly, and it can only be done if those at cabinet surrender power, this office could be a central plank in rebuilding this country.

In a few short weeks we face a very grim budget and unless the austerity is leavened with a degree of hope it may be too grim to stand. One of the ways to make it palatable is to show a new determination to reforming our public life. Establishing such a ministry would fit that bill and there will never be a better time.