Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Gabh mo leithscéal nach raibh mé anseo. Bhí mé ag an gCoiste um Chuntais Phoiblí. I apologise; I wish I was here for the opening statement but I am a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, a meeting of which is still running. I did read the Minister's detailed press release and also sped-read Dr. Geoffrey Shannon's work. I also compliment the Minister on her decision, which was the right one, and thank Dr. Shannon. From what I have read, he has been very helpful in placing this matter in a rights-based context. From what I read, there was clearly an obligation to bury the infants lawfully and with decency and respect and the Bon Secour Sisters were under a statutory duty to report each death and inform the families of the circumstances. That is my reading of what Dr. Shannon was saying and putting it in a statutory or legal context. Is it not extraordinary that he has to confirm there was a duty on the Bon Secours Sisters to bury the infants lawfully? Is it not extraordinary that in 2018, in the 21st century, we are grateful that he is confirming that this should have been done? Clearly, it was not done.

It is also important to realise that the Minister's decision, which is very welcome and correct, has come at the end of a long journey of pain and suffering for the families. I will declare an interest. I am involved on a personal basis and was involved on a professional basis. I also have a very specific interest on a political basis. This is really just the first step in dealing with Ireland's buried past. I hope that this process is the first positive step in saying that we will leave aside the patronising attitude that was displayed up until now that we knew best and that knowledge should not be given out and that this is a new era where maximum knowledge will be given to the survivors so that they, and I put myself in one of those families, can decide what is best and how we go forward. I attended a briefing in Tuam where we were told about closure. I do not think it is the Government's business to tell any of us about closure. That is up to each individual based on maximum information. I would like clarification about the inquest that has been mentioned by Deputy Bríd Smith. Very strong representations have been made to us because it is important to establish the circumstances of the death and how the children died. Clearly, there are lots of questions. I pay tribute to Catherine Corless and all of the survivors and their families. It has not been easy for any of them. It has been particularly difficult. There is a huge element that wants to leave well enough alone and get on with living yet there is another segment within us that says no, we cannot do this.

4 o’clock

Even though it is messy and difficult, we have to deal with this. We owe it to the families, our relatives and the babies who were never buried with dignity. We need details of the phased aspect of the Minister's decision. I get worried when I hear the words "phased aspect" without time limits. There is an onus on the Minister, and perhaps she has done this, to explain how she approaches the Bon Secours sisters.

I have come from a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts, which started at 9 a.m. One of the items of correspondence we dealt with and which is relevant in this regard relates to the 2002 legal agreement on redress. First, in 1999, there was an unreserved apology, without conditions, from the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. He said what happened should not have happened and that he was sorry. That was followed by a commission of inquiry which reported in 2009 and there was the redress board. The last figure I saw for this was €1.5 billion out of the State purse. Caranua was established and there was a statutory scheme under the remit of the Department of Education and Skills. What emerged again from the correspondence this morning was that the legal commitment entered into in 2002 has not been complied with. There are still several properties that have not been fully transferred.

In 2009, following publication of the Ryan report, which was utterly damning of the system that allowed children to be incarcerated in the manner they were, the religious orders came forward and kindly offered several properties and money but now, in 2018, we are still awaiting the completion of that offer. There is no legal obligation on them to do that. The initial legal agreement in 2002 under the former Minister, Michael Woods, underestimated what was involved. There is a particular onus on the Minister this time not to agree in any manner behind closed doors on the contribution from the Bon Secours sisters. If we have learnt anything, it is that it should be done in an open and accountable fashion with minuted meetings and be based on reality as to what this process will cost us. It has implications for many other sites so it must be done with diligence.

We learned today that Lenaboy, the industrial school in Taylor's Hill in Galway that was given over in 2009, is still empty. The Department is now completing a geophysical survey and we do not know its results. There is an intimate connection between this institution and the mother and baby home in Tuam.

In the course of the Magdalen inquiry under then Senator McAleese, a great deal of information emerged. I have highlighted this to the Minister before now. Many Deputies were given briefing papers marked "Strictly Confidential". They had been given to the assistant national director, HSE intelligence. There was no intelligence following these briefing papers. They were also given to the assistant national director, HSE children and family services. They came from the consultant public health physician and epidemiologist. That was health intelligence. I have repeatedly referred to this. It refers to Bessborough but I will not discuss it now.

The briefing document of 12 October 2012 on the Tuam mother and baby home states that the home was involved in the provision of babies to America for the adoptive market. It added that there were letters from senior church authorities asking for babies to be identified for the American adoptive market and that the records relating to Tuam were "detailed and extensive" and would require time to comb through. There were one or two areas of deep concern that needed to be looked at. There are letters from bishops and senior church officials who had written to the home asking for babies to be made available for adoption. A careful study of these letters is necessary it stated. There were also examples of the home sending out bills to parents for the upkeep of their children, in many instances when the mother and the baby had been discharged. The home was also in receipt of State money. Like the institutional diaspora, there was frequent admission to, and discharge from, psychiatric hospitals and so on. The briefing document concluded that in both Bessborough and Tuam there were issues of concern in respect of historic patient safety, medical care, accounting irregularities, and interference with birth and death certification, which required further investigation and so on. It also referred to illegal actions and stated that although much time has passed, the possibility that illegal actions took place required further investigation. This document went to the highest people in the HSE.

According to Catherine Corless and her careful research, there were matching death certificates for 796 infants. If the same number of children and babies is not found or if more are found, there will be serious questions to answer. There are also questions regarding what adult remains will be found there. The Minister has made a good decision, which I welcome. I hope it is the start of maximum information and accountability and letting this Dáil, but most important, the survivors and families decide what they want to do with that information.

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