Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, Deputy Zappone, for bringing this issue to light. What we are seeing here is yet another bombshell exposing the toxic relationship between church and State in this country and the human damage and hardship it has imposed and continues to impose on very significant numbers of people. In this case it is clear that this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg but 126 people have had their identities stolen and their welfare, particularly in terms of their health, compromised by not knowing their proper biological heritage.

I was particularly struck by this scandal as I was adopted via St. Patrick's Guild in the years affected. I do not know if I am one of the cases involved. I am probably not but I have questions about it, as do other members of both my adoptive and birth families. Thousands of people have very serious questions to ask about, or are living in ignorance of, their true heritage. They are going to have life-changing events visited upon them. In some cases, these life-changing experiences are very positive and I was lucky that my experience was just such a positive one. For others, though, it is very traumatic and scary and it turns one's life upside down. It is absolutely critical that, having now revealed this, we respond urgently but with sensitivity to the needs and demands of those who are affected.

The Adoption Rights Alliance and the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors are furious about this and they say this has been known for 20 years but that nothing done about it. People spoke about it while in Opposition but later came into Government and did absolutely nothing about it. When issues were raised during the introduction of the adoption Bill about illegal as against supposedly incorrect registrations, they were not properly dealt with, and credit is due to Deputy Clare Daly in this regard. Some of the people affected are still not certain if they will gain access to information about their adoption as a result of it not being registered properly as a legal adoption. There are thousands more in the US as well.

We need to engage with the alliances and with the people affected, we need to seek their advice and we need to act on things they have been demanding for 20 years. There are very serious questions over the responsibility of the Sisters of Charity for all of this. I have been getting emails on this in recent weeks and I would like reassurances over their continued role in the National Maternity Hospital.

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