Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I am sure Deputy Quinn would be very pleased to receive any amendments. I seek an amendment regarding the immediate relatives of children who died in reformatories and industrial schools. Such people should have the right to have the remains of their loved ones exhumed such that they could be re-interred in a family plot in the local graveyard rather than where they are at present. Furthermore, any family which believes a child died in suspicious circumstances in an industrial school or reformatory while in the care of the religious orders and the State should be entitled to have that child's remains exhumed and forensically examined to determine the exact cause of death, a reasonable request.

We must learn the lessons of the Ryan report for the sake of the tens of thousands of vulnerable innocent Irish children of recent decades. Some of the events referred to did not take place long ago. We must ensure whatever steps are necessary are taken in future. The Ryan report should be the beginning not the end of a process. Deputy Quinn has done a valuable service and has identified a way forward to deal with several outstanding issues. The final outstanding issue which must be addressed is to ensure our children in future are protected and that there is a constitutional amendment to enshrine in the Constitution protections for the rights of the child.

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