Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“notes that Bethany Home:

— evolved from two private charities, the Dublin Midnight Mission and Female Refuge and the Dublin Prison Gate Mission, which predate the existence of the State; and that in 1934 it moved from Blackhall Place to Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin and remained there until it ceased operation in 1972;

— operated as a charitable trust and carried out a range of functions, but in 1940 the High Court found that the majority of cases it dealt with were maternity cases;

— was registered as a maternity home and was inspected under the Maternity Homes Act 1934; and

— was not an enclosed institution;

acknowledges that Bethany Home operated at a time when poverty was widespread, infant mortality rates were high and that life for those children without family support could involve serious hardship;

recognises that those who were, as children, in homes and institutions have a right to access their personal records; and

commends the efforts being made to preserve and make more accessible relevant records.”

I have been surprised by the people in Sinn Féin putting down this motion because I had been waiting for it for several months. The fact that it did not come before now threw me. That is what Sinn Féin does. It is always about the next impossible task. I call on the sensible and reasonable members of Sinn Féin to reflect on the work of this Government, which has dealt with symphysiotomy, the Magdalenl laundries women, Mr. Neary and all the other major legacy issues that will have a substantial cost on the State. Do they seriously believe that if we could have included the small number of people involved in the Bethany Home, we would not have done so? I do not believe that is what they think. It is simply another case of standing up and talking the rhetoric of transparency, honesty and integrity. I find it a little difficult to take from Sinn Féin.

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