Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Susan Lohan of the Adoption Rights Alliance who said we should have examined these issues years ago but instead, a collective head in the sand attitude was taken. It often takes a major event for us to realise that something has to be done. As somebody else said, this was hidden in plain view.

This inquiry has to put an end to the issue, and it must be comprehensive. We are debating the Private Members' motion but the announcement has been made by the Minister. Last week I asked for the Tuam location to be declared a crime scene because there was something very unusual about the burial location. That is the reason it got so much attention around the world. An inquiry must not exclude the Garda, the State pathologist and forensic anthropologists. That must happen.

When I met the Minister yesterday I raised with him the need to include foster care and boarding out as issues that need to be addressed in addition to adoption and the drug trials. There must be an understanding of the social conditions at the time that led to what happened.

We are all affected by the people who are contacting us to tell us their stories. They want to tell their stories, and when we hear over the coming months about the impact this has had on their lives we will have a fuller understanding of the long-term consequences of the way we treated people in this country.

There are contemporary comparisons, and it would be wrong of us not to point to them. One of these is direct provision.

Children raised for extensive periods in these environments can be badly damaged. We have a responsibility to do something about this also.

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