David Norris (Independent)

I salute the courage of the survivors of abuse in residential institutions. Some of their representatives are in the Visitors' Gallery. Like all the Irish people, I honour them for the integrity, great dignity and courage they have shown. This is very personal information and the abuse they suffered was of a highly personal and damaging nature. Without their testimony, I doubt we would be here today. There was, for example, the testimony of Mannix Flynn who I am glad to say has managed to sustain a successful career as a creative artist and joined politics as a member of Dublin City Council. This gives meaning to the word "survivor" and that the people in question are not just victims. The people here today and those they represent are survivors in the positive sense. One can never overcome the kind of appalling trauma that was visited upon these citizens. However, they can and have shown they have the capacity through their struggle to achieve dignity. They have shown they can become survivors not just in a negative but also in a positive sense.

I welcome the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012. I remember when the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, made an apology to the survivors of residential abuse on behalf of the Irish people. That was a moving occasion and the apology was appropriate. At that point compensation was promised. This Bill is a fulfilment of that promise and a necessary and appropriate one. I salute the Minister for Education and Skills for the determined way he has pursued this matter.

I was, however, frankly appalled at the deal done in the dying days of a former Government by the then Minister for Education and Science, Michael Woods. It was shocking, particularly because the then Attorney General had not been properly consulted nor had the appropriate advice been taken from the legal authorities in the Department.