Labour Party Leader Ivana Bacik TD and local Deputy Ged Nash have pledged to include a commitment to a Commission of Inquiry into the actions and conduct of convicted paedophile  Michael Shine, in the Party’s forthcoming general election manifesto.

The pledge comes as the Deputies met with victims and survivors who are members of the Dignity4Support group, in Leinster House.

After the meeting, Labour leader Ivana Bacik TD and her Louth colleague Ged Nash TD said;

“We want to thank victims and survivors and the Dignity4Patients group for meeting with us today, we deeply appreciated their engagement with us.

“It was important to hear directly from the men who met with us about their terrible experiences of abuse, perpetrated by one of Ireland’s most prolific abusers.

“It was also important to hear about the way in which the victims and survivors have had multiple experiences of being failed by different State institutions. These successive failures have meant that justice continues to be denied to the countless men who have suffered abuse perpetrated by Michael Shine.

“The principle of equality of treatment requires the establishment of a Commission of Investigation into the actions of Michael Shine. In particular, the circumstances under which he was allowed to abuse boys and young men over many decades, with impunity, must be investigated.

“Labour is fully committed to the establishment of a Commission of Investigation and this commitment will be included in our general election manifesto. We want to see the next government undertake such a statutory Commission as a matter of urgency.”