Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh cinniúint an Rialtais coimisiún fiosrúcháin a bhunú i ngéarchéim árais mháthair agus linbh agus tá súil agam go gcabhróidh sé seo le céim dearfach a thógáil mar gheall ar chaibidil uafásach dorcha i stair na tíre.

We cannot underestimate the enormity of the challenge of this investigation, but in equal measure we cannot overstate the importance of the truth to the tens of thousands of women who bore and lost their children in these institutions in such cruel circumstances. A total of 796 children died in the Bon Secours home in Tuam between 1925 and 1961. I commend the work of all the individuals who have shed light into these dark corners of our history and who have given these forgotten mothers and babies a voice. We must also remember the 219 Bethany Home children who, until recently, lay in an unmarked grave in Dublin. Despite the wealth of evidence detailing State involvement and oversight in the homes and the barbaric neglect of babies and young children, the Government has yet fully to acknowledge wrongdoing.

Derek Leinster, chairperson of the Bethany Survivors Group described the horrific neglect he experienced following his birth in the institution:

At seven and a half months old I was nursed out to Mrs. Shirley, my head was a mass of puss, blood and scabs. I looked like a ghost. They nursed me back to normal health. I was then taken back to Bethany when I was two and a half years old, to be permanently adopted by another family - that did not happen. There were many children in the Bethany Home who suffered from rickets. I then became very ill and was lucky that they had left enough time to give Cork Street isolation hospital a chance to save my life. I had bronchial pneumonia, diphtheria, pertussis and gastroenteritis.

This is from just one of the individuals from that home who was lucky enough to survive.

There must be no distinction between Catholic, Protestant or State homes in the commission of inquiry. All mother and baby homes must be included, as well as the Magdalen laundries. This commission of investigation is an opportunity, which should be grabbed with both hands, to include all those who have been gravely wronged by institutions of any kind. Tens of thousands of women across the decades lost their children in these homes. They lived in a society in which they had a deeply ingrained stigma that is nearly impossible for us to understand today. In short, they were outlawed by many of our grandparents, and the religious orders were employed to oversee their punishment.

It is of pivotal importance that we investigate the heartbreaking wrongs for a number of reasons, but primarily to bring belated justice to the women and babies involved. There is also a need to get to the truth. In recent weeks there has been a swirl of media reports, most of it shockingly true but some of it wide of the mark.

There must also be an investigation to ensure that we learn from our past. Shockingly this State still mistreats mothers and children. I refer in particular to direct provision. Nutrition there is an ongoing issue, particularly for children. The Irish Refugee Council has reported cases of the HSE offering to take children into care, or partial care, in cases of severe malnourishment instead of simply ensuring that parents have enough to feed their children properly. Residents are literally imprisoned in direct provision for years. I have met adults who have spent their formative years in direct provision and on completion of their leaving certificate are prevented from working, attending college and much else. They are unable to escape.

In this decade, one child in the HSE system dies every fortnight, 513 children went missing while in State care between 2000 and 2010 and the whereabouts of 440 children are unknown. Only recently we saw the disgraceful debacle of the Government, in practical terms, taking medical care from children with life-long illnesses or disabilities through the medical card review.

We owe it to the families who are torn apart by the mother and child homes to uncover the wrongs, and we owe it to the mothers and children of this generation not to repeat them.

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