Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I return to the issue of the Bethany Home survivors. I thank the Taoiseach for his answer to my earlier questions. When he made a very commendable acknowledgement of and apology to the survivors of the Magdalen laundries in this Chamber, it had been preceded by a less than sure-footed initial response by him. While it may be wrong for me to make any presumption, I have always presumed this was because the State was concerned about issues of cost, liability and so forth. However, he then met the survivors of the Magdalen laundries and meeting those feisty women changed all of that. I have very fond memories of meeting some of them, particularly here, when one of them sang "The Fields of Athenry" to us. I believe the experience of meeting them here and in London led the Taoiseach to follow his instinct and better nature, and make the sound and good remarks he made.

The Bethany Home survivors, however, have been left out of this. There is no logic, rationale, justice or fairness in what is being done. I know we must judge things in their own time and we have different attitudes to many issues today. However, in 1939 when concerns were raised about the health and public safety of these children and the standards of care in Bethany Home, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Winslow Sterling Berry, said it was well known that illegitimate children were delicate and suffered from starvation. That is unacceptable today, regardless of its unacceptability or otherwise at the time. We have the benefit of hindsight and live in more enlightened times.

I appeal to the Taoiseach to take a more enlightened view of the issue. I stress that there is only a very small number of survivors. I know the Taoiseach is extremely busy and there is probably a tsunami of people waiting to meet him. However, if he took the time to meet some Bethany Home survivors it might have the same effect as his meeting with the survivors of the Magdalen laundries had on him. I again ask the Taoiseach to do the right thing by the small number of people involved in order to draw a line under it, have a proper redress scheme and let them move on.

See this speech in context