Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There has been enough division in this society over the years. We have had enough of examples of neglect, hardship and revisiting the scenes of the past to illustrate, beyond a shadow of doubt, that things happened with which we would not wish to be associated. They continued to happen up to very recent times.

It goes without saying that there is considerable doubt about the standards that applied in Bethany Home. Members on all sides of the House are concerned about this. We have expressed that view and we will continue to express it. I hope that at a later stage the Government, having considered everything, will introduce a Bill that will address the issues in a fundamental way. It should not be on the basis of the small number of people involved in this instance, because that is not the issue. Regardless of whether the number is great or small, if an injustice has been done to the extent that is suggested, and I believe it has, our society must address it.

However, it must be remembered that our society during those times was harsh. It had no regard at all for the rights of individuals, of unmarried mothers or of people with disabilities, physical or mental. There are scores of people in homes and institutions who were committed to them for their lifetimes. They were ill-treated by their detention in the first place and by the failure of the State to provide assistance from any quarter to recognise their position and their plight. I do not shirk from the issue before us any more than anybody else does. I believe our society was harsh and uncaring, but there was also a great deal of poverty in this country at that time and there were many competing demands. Issues that appear to be very pertinent, simple and straightforward were not so simple and straightforward then. There were very serious compelling issues competing with them at that time and there was poverty all around. What are now regarded as basic minimum rights were not even on the horizon at that time.

With hindsight, we must look again at the extent and degree to which deprivation took place, rights were not recognised, abuse and mistreatment took place and detention took place against the will of those detained and beyond their power to do anything about it. There was deprivation in institutions such as Bethany Home. We must look at that again in a cold, hard light and make a decision on it. As a society we must make a decision on what we stand for. Do we accept that the things that happened in the past were all right then and that we should ignore them now? Do we accept that those things were wrong then, that it was wrong of society to condone them then and that we must do something about it now, or do we just ignore it? There is something very important in all of that.

In recent times we have tended to look back on history, both recent and earlier, and try to airbrush it into what is acceptable. I am not making a political point on this. I could talk on this subject for as long as anybody wishes, as I am sure you can too, a Cheann Comhairle. Many things happened in this country that were appalling. We should never try to justify them, sweep them under the carpet, walk away from them or fail to accept responsibility for them. Our society has the responsibility. We must accept responsibility for the things that happened which did not have our consent, because we were not there, but did have the consent of people who either judged harshly or felt they had the right to judge harshly in those circumstances. Now is the time to look at those issues again.

I listened carefully to the speech of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, last night and I congratulate her on it. She examined and identified the issues in a very impartial way and presented the case in a way which clearly indicates that something must be done to address them, regardless of who raised them.

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