Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. We have met Magdalen laundry survivors during the years. As I am advised that Nora Connolly O'Brien, the daughter of James Connolly, raised the issue decades ago, it is not as if it was unknown. There are many issues which need to be dealt with. In a real republic these things should not happen, but they did. It is not the Taoiseach's fault and it did not happen on his watch, but the report was delivered on his watch. He is a decent person. I do not want to sound patronising, but he has a good heart. There is a significant opportunity to acknowledge that what was done was wrong. It is also important in terms of seeking redress, pensions and health care. One cannot happen without the other.

There are other cases. When I came here, I was foolish enough to say to our team that I thought the campaign on symphisiotomy could be won in this term. The barbarity of symphisiotomy, an issue on which Fine Gael and the Labour Party supported the victims while in opposition, has still not been resolved. The Government has a significant opportunity to make amends for what was done by others to the citizens involved. The issue of how people got there and whether they were sent by their parents is irrelevant. Either we believe in equality or we do not. If we do, every person who was a victim of the Magdalen laundry system, however they arrived there, needs the approach advocated by those who advocate on their behalf.

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