Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For the information of Deputy Adams and the House, the members who attended at the engagement with the Catholic Church and with the Church of Ireland represented a broad church of people from throughout the country. The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference representatives present were Cardinal Brady, Bishop Colm O'Reilly, Bishop John Buckley and Bishop Brendan Kelly. Also present were Monsignor Gearóid Dullea, the executive secretary of the bishops conference, Father Michael Drumm, director of Catholic Schools Partnership, Dr. Nicola Rooney, the Bishops Council for Justice and Peace, Mr. Harry Casey, executive administrator of the bishops conference, and Fr. Timothy Bartlett, assistant to the bishops conference. Mr. Martin Long, director of the Catholic Communications Office, was also present for some of that meeting. The representatives of the Church of Ireland were the Archbishop of Dublin, Most Reverend Dr. Michael Jackson, the Right Reverend John McDowell, Bishop of Clogher, the Venerable Robin Bantry White, Archdeacon of Cork, Cloyne and Ross and Honorary Secretary of the General Synod. Also in attendance was the Reverend Kenneth Hall, the Dean of Clogher, the Reverend Eithne Lynch, Rector of Mallow, Mr. Sam Harper, who is honorary secretary of the General Synod, Ms Eithne Harkness representing the Archbishop of Armagh, Mrs. Janet Maxwell, head of Synod Services and Communications, Mr. Garrett Casey, synod officer, Dr. Ken Fennelly, secretary to the synod board of education, and Ms Lynn Glanville, the Dublin communications officer.

The two meetings were very good and a good discussion took place across all these issues. It is fair to say that everybody recognised the impact of the economic crisis on homes in every city and town in the country. The personnel who were present at the meeting clearly reflected that. Loneliness, disillusionment, pessimism and other such issues were discussed. We will not be able to deal with those issues unless the economy is functioning properly and the country is on a growth pattern, which is why from a Government point of view we must rectify those problems, and the only way we can do that is by creating employment, growing the economy and making things happen.

I recognise and agree fully with Deputy Adams about the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the many people involved in many other charities we both know who give their time voluntarily in the interests of looking after neighbours and people who, for one reason or another, require succour, comfort and facilities. Those people do an enormous amount of work. It is equally difficult for people who give their hard-earned money - in many cases their loose change - to everything from bucket collections to flag days to voluntary commitments. I would like to think those coins and that contribution goes directly to the people for whom it is intended.

I have said to the Deputy that we do not need an independent public inquiry into this matter but I hope it can be settled quickly and effectively, that straight answers are given to straight questions, and that the section 38 agencies and charities dealing with disability come before the Health Service Executive and the Committee of Public Accounts in regard to the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, homes. I note the Private Member's motion from the Deputy's party on today's Order Paper.

In regard to the situation in rural Ireland in general, there was a recognition of what the Government was trying to do through the Common Agricultural Policy in retaining as much as possible of the direct payments system. As Deputy Adams is aware, that worked out at almost 97%, which was certainly against the head given that many others felt that could not be achieved. We must determine the backup that can be given in respect of the Pillar 2 facilities to provide employment and opportunities in rural Ireland. These are matters that were raised by representatives of both churches. The question of suicide was raised by them as a consequence of some things that are happening.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Archbishop Jackson, referred to the approaches he had from the Bethany Home group and the correspondence that had been received between Archbishop Clarke and the Minister for Justice and Equality.

He said he had taken a particular interest in the Bethany Home as it was in his own diocese but it had not been owned and managed by the Church of Ireland. The church needed a determination of the full facts here and he appreciated the complexity involved in that.

Sinn Féin set out a number of issues in regard to the Bethany Home in its Private Members' business motion. This matter has been examined by two Governments and gone through exhaustively in the sense of equality of treatment with the Magdalen homes. However, it should be noted that the Bethany Home evolved from two private charities, namely, the Dublin Midnight Mission and Female Refuge and the Dublin Prison Gate Mission, which actually predated the existence, or the foundation, of the State. It moved from Blackhall Place to Orwell Road, Rathgar, in 1934 and remained there until it ceased operation in 1972.

It should also be noted that it operated as a charitable trust and carried out a pretty extensive range of functions but in 1940, the High Court found that the majority of cases it dealt with were maternity cases. It was also determined that the Bethany Home was registered as a maternity home and was inspected under the Maternity Homes Act 1934, so, therefore, it was not an enclosed institution. The Government acknowledges, for its part, that the Bethany Home operated at a time when poverty was widespread and infant mortality rates were very high and that life for those children without family support would clearly have involved serious hardship. I also recognise that those who were in homes and institutions as children have a right to access their personal records and the Government has always commended the efforts made to preserve and make those records more accessible.

I do not just give that as a response to the Deputy's question. This was gone through exhaustively by two Government analyses and reports and it is a very different situation than that which applied in the Magdalen homes situation. I agree with the Deputy in respect of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the charities which do that work. The Deputy will have the opportunity later today to have a more detailed discussion in respect of the Bethany Home situation.

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