Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-07-16 ============================================================ Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow Let me say "Yes" and "Yes" to two very clear questions. Let me acknowledge the Deputy's own advocacy, leadership and involvement in this issue for a long number of years and that of other Deputies from the area, including the Ministers, Deputies Byrne and McEntee, Deputy Butterly and many people across the political divide trying to desperately get a hearing for people who were being ignored, obstructed and, as Deputy Nash said, were having doors slammed in their faces. This is the second time this week in this House we have talked about the actions of vile, despicable paedophiles who were allowed to prey on innocent children and young men in this country. I read the scoping inquiry report and before I came in today, I read the comments of the victim's group, of the survivor's group. The most powerful thing they said was that they feel "listened to" after decades of being ignored. Being ignored does not capture how despicably cruelly they were treated in terms of this. In fact, it is not that long ago I remember people making the point, not in this House, that there was no need at all for an inquiry in relation to this. I am really pleased we have gotten to this point. I join the Deputy in thanking my colleague, the Minister for Health, for publishing the report of the scoping exercise into former surgeon Michael Shine. I also thank her for the engagement she has had with the group. I have been a very strong believer that there was a need for some form of inquiry. Michael Shine is a convicted sexual abuser. He carried out vile, despicable acts against boys and young men. He was described by the Court of Appeal as a "prolific sexual offender". I remember when I was Taoiseach engaging on this with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and others and we asked for options to be prepared as to how we could take an inquiry forward. I am really pleased the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, moved forward on this as well. I want to praise Lorcan Staines, the senior counsel, who conducted the scoping exercise. Quite frankly, in my experience in this House and in government, getting that chair right matters a hell of a lot. We appointed the right person and Lorcan Staines has been exemplary in how he has carried out this work. He met almost 75 victims and survivors as part of the process and he noted that they were middle-aged to elderly men from all walks of life in Drogheda and the surrounding areas. I acknowledge their bravery. The courage of the individuals who came forward to share their lived experience with the facilitator during that process cannot be easy. He detailed how allegations of abuse reported to him involved a broad range of ages, including reports of abuse when victims were children, teenagers or young adults. Allegations are reported as having occurred at the hospital, in Shine's private practice in Fair Street and in Shine's home, with the earliest allegation said to have occurred in 1964 and the latest in 1990. Victims were of the view that Shine's conduct throughout this, as the Deputy said, was a matter of public knowledge. Clearly, there is a need to investigate this fully and we now have a model and a way forward, thanks to the work of Lorcan Staines and to the bravery and courage of the men, the neighbours and the friends of the Deputy's, for all they have done to get us to this point. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-16/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:17+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-16