Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

I support this amendment and the following two amendments. The Minister mentioned that everything is already covered by the thrust of the Bill. Without wishing to play with words, we must have trust in the Bill. Unfortunately, survivors do not trust the Department of Education and Science, they do not trust the work of the commission to date and do not trust the legislation. It must be spelled out in black and white that, as far as possible, the State is taking action to redress the wrongs that occurred in a transparent manner. The Minister does not support a move from the Department of Education and Science to the Department of the Taoiseach in order to facilitate such transparency. However, the Minister must include the wording to engender trust in the Bill. This is why it must be spelled out and why I support amendments Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive.

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