Ms Carmel McDonnell Byrne:

I just want to thank everybody for inviting us in today. It is very important to be listened to, and I get the feeling we were actually heard for the first time in my life.

I remember, going back to 1997, when I met Deputy Micheál Martin and Bertie Ahern. They had only come into power. They asked us, that is, Christine Buckley, Bernadette Fahy and me, to give a brief of what happened to us, and I was so taken aback by the response. They stood up, looked us in the eye and apologised. That started me on my road of healing and recovery. I am still on that road of healing, as are all the survivors.

We have poured our hearts out today and it is not easy. Thankfully, counselling helps us to get through these things because we are so passionate about protecting other survivors and ourselves. Therefore, I just hope what we have said today does not fall on deaf ears because many survivors do not trust the Departments at all. We still hear survivors say, "Let them bury the records because they never believed me anyway."

I am not the perpetrator. From the time I got involved in this in 1996, which was after the "Dear Daughter" documentary, I have had phone calls from people attempting suicide. I do not want to get those phone calls. I have had them all my life. My role as a survivor is not to protect another survivor from suicide. I am not the perpetrator. I am only trying to help. It is about time someone was held accountable and, as I said, that our voices were heard loud and clear and we were respected because we need to be honoured as a whole group. As Ms Harney said earlier, we are unique people and none of us are here screaming and shouting, despite what happened. We may have anger and other things but we have learned how to control that. That was very evident after the Ryan report, when we had the march of solidarity. There was no screaming and shouting; people walked in silence. I was part of that, as were some of my sisters here.

On that note, I thank everybody - I really do. I did not say that in my three minutes at the beginning.

It means so much. It also means so much to hear the professionals who are working so hard and putting so many hours into trying to put right the wrongs that happened. Thank you.