Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat. In trying to come to terms with this, one of the questions I asked of myself was how did this State allow the establishment of these institutions for women who had babies out of wedlock. In trying to tease through the sad history of all of this, the more profound question is what are we going to do about it. The Government, by announcing the establishment of a commission of inquiry, has made a good start. The Taoiseach's commitment to work with parties in Opposition and others is also to be welcomed.

Sinn Féin has been consistently raising the issue of Bethany Home with the Government. The Government still has not fulfilled its responsibilities to the victims of the Bethany Home, which I have never understood, given the small number of people involved. What we now have on the back of that is greater revelations involving even more citizens. While I welcome the Taoiseach's commitment and that of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, Sinn Féin's responsibility is to hold the Government to account in all of these matters. Counselling is crucial. In many cases, it is an add-on. It is crucial for all of the survivors and others traumatised by these revelations.

Why is An Garda Síochána not investigating this? That strikes me as a pertinent point.

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