Áine Collins (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. There is no doubt the recent highlighting of the treatment of mothers and babies since the foundation of the State has shocked the nation, and rightly so. Despite the fact books were written and reports were made on the issue since 1929, for some unexplainable reason society as a whole did not react to the serious consequences these practices had on women, children and society over a 60 year period. Despite the fact we considered ourselves during the period as holy Catholic Ireland, these massive, unchristian abuses of women and children were taking place.

There seems instead to have been a totally unholy alliance between church and State and, indeed, the establishments of civil society that allowed this premise to continue for so long. This is yet another huge reflection on how our society, church and State ignored the plight of young single mothers and their children. If somebody knew this was happening anywhere else in the world, we would have portrayed the appearance of shock and horror at this uncivilised and barbaric behaviour, yet it happened under our noses and on our watch, and we knew about it. Because of some moral or civil snobbery, as a society, we regarded this kind of treatment of so-called fallen women and their children as acceptable. The very silence of church and State was immoral.

Any inquiry will find it difficult to apportion blame, even though the State and churches were to blame for the day-to-day mismanagement and outrageous neglect of these mothers and their children - our children. Society as a whole, especially the establishment element in our society, by its silence condoned what was happening. It is difficult to understand how politicians, journalists, judges, barristers, doctors, nuns, teachers, bankers and law enforcement agencies allowed these situations to continue over a prolonged period. I am sure that any inquiry will show many very good people were involved in trying to help these mothers and their children, but the overwhelming attitude of society, which regarded these women and children as somehow less equal, hampered their efforts to change the system.

There is no doubt that the attitude towards established religions influenced greatly this social attitude. This was very evident when it came to adoptions. The churches, both Catholic and Protestant, were more concerned that the adoptive parents belonged to the right church rather than whether they were suitable to be good parents. There was a prevalent attitude that these unmarried mothers had no rights whatsoever, but church and State thought they had the right to act as sole guardians and do what they considered was appropriate for these children. They decided they should be adopted, sent to foster homes or exported to places like America. It would seem also that these institutions decided that some of these children could be used in medical experiments.

Much has been made of the question of whether the mother gave consent for these adoptions or experiments. This does not really matter. Consent given under such duress could not and should not stand up legally in any event. If a person is in a position where their parents, church, teachers, state and society in general have condemned them, they are broken. That person then has no choice but to concede to what they impose upon them. I believe this societal attitude over many years contributed and still contributes towards women and childbearing. Is it any wonder that, even today, so few women are involved in politics, business and positions of influence in our society? Not only must we investigate and expose the wrongs of the past and deal with those issues, in doing so the religious orders who carried out the wrongs in Tuam and many other places need to make a public apology for what has happened. We must examine our current practices to ensure injustices are not still occurring in a subtle manner. For example, in a few years, will we be examining the way in which we have treated the children of asylum seekers?

The Government is constantly trying to deal fairly with legacies from the past while at the same time putting in place safeguards for the future. The appointment of a Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is a huge step in that direction. I welcome the decision of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, to set up an inquiry that is appropriate to deal with these issues. Legacy issues need to be dealt with fairly and comprehensively, and one hopes we in Ireland, as a society, will be fair and just to all our people in the future.

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