I propose taking Questions Nos. 68 and 86 together.
In setting up the commission to inquire into child abuse the Government set out broad terms of reference which included the following: To establish as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of physical and sexual abuse of children in institutions and in other places during the period from 1940, or such earlier date as the commission considers appropriate, to the present, including the antecedents, circumstances, factors and context of such abuse, the perspectives of the victims and the motives and perspectives of the persons responsible for committing abuse.
The commission was asked, as a first step towards carrying out their inquiries, to consider their terms of reference and recommend any changes to them they considered necessary. On foot of this the commission recommended in an initial report to the Government on 7 September 1999 that the commission should conduct its investigative role by making findings of fact in relation to general allegations that abuse was prevalent in a particular institution at a particular time with consequential findings ascribing responsibility to, among others, the statutory or other bodies charged with the duty of regulating the institutions. The Government agreed in principle to this approach on 15 September.
It is clear therefore that the commission will be in a position to conduct very wide ranging inquiries which would include inquiries into the state of knowledge of local authorities, health boards and Government Departments of the extent of child abuse in institutions and schools and the action taken by such authorities in discharge of their responsibilities.