Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I welcome the initiative he has introduced and am glad to have the opportunity to speak on the motion on the draft order for the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes. The terms of reference are not perfect by any means. In fact, they make it quite clear that this is not the final word on the issue of the treatment of mothers and babies in this country over very many decades during the 20th century.

It is another important step in Ireland's coming to terms with its tragic past.

The industrial schools and reformatories condemned generations of Ireland's poor and marginalised children to separation from their parents and families and to lives of misery and drudgery in grim, isolated institutions. Although these institutions were condemned in 1970 by Miss Justice Eileen Kennedy, they were only gradually phased out. The apology of the Taoiseach in 1998 and the establishment of the Residential Institutions Redress Board in 2002, under the Residential Institutions Redress Act, enabled tens of thousands of the institutionalised youth of Ireland of the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to receive some acknowledgement of their treatment and the survivors some recompense for their suffering.

The 2009 Ryan report on child abuse produced a devastating examination and analysis of the operation of these institutions and the mistreatment of the children. Subsequently, in 2011, the present Government moved the process further and set up the investigation into the Magdalen homes, where thousands of young Irish women were incarcerated without trial, largely for the crime of becoming pregnant and bearing children out of wedlock. Former Senator Martin McAleese produced his report in 2013, and a scheme of redress was put in place. While none of these initiatives was perfect, they all contributed to addressing, however inadequately, the wrongs that were perpetrated on the children and mothers of Ireland under an uncaring, unchristian society in much of the 20th century.

Today, the latest phase of the Government's attempts to undo the wrongs of previous generations is initiated. It, too, is far from perfect and will not address all the concerns of those survivors who were placed in mother and baby homes. Most serious of all is the fact that so many are no longer with us and have never seen any State acknowledgement of their suffering as young citizens of this country. Given that many of the survivors, some of whom are in the Visitors Gallery today, and whom I welcome, are now in their twilight years, it is important that we get it as right as possible on this occasion.

I congratulate the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors, both in Ireland and abroad, on the campaigning work they have done to date. I am pleased that Bethany Home, a Protestant mother and baby institution, has at last been included in this inquiry. In 2002, when the Residential Institutions Redress Bill was being debated, I met the courageous and determined Derek Leinster and extracted a commitment from the then Minister for Education, Michael Woods, that Bethany Home would be included in an additional schedule of institutions under the legislation. This was 12 years ago. It never happened, and successive Ministers all refused, despite the protestations of Mr. Leinster and his colleagues. Now, at last, after 12 years of constant campaigning, they have got a commission of inquiry. They should be facilitated in telling their stories, both as a testament to their experience and as a record of that unsavoury past, lest we ever forget. There is ample provision within the terms of reference to facilitate full personal testimony.

The second mother and baby case with which I have been engaged over many years is the case of baby Marion Howe, who died in 1955 in controversial circumstances, having been transferred from Goldenbridge orphanage in Inchicore, which was run by the Sisters of Mercy. Marion was aged 11 months when she was admitted into Goldenbridge. Marion's mother was ill at the time and her father was working in England. She was to be in Goldenbridge for only two weeks while her mother recovered. On 21 May 1955, just four days after her admittance, Marion died. Although the Sisters of Mercy sent a telegram to her father telling him not to come home, and he had little money as he was working as a labourer in England, he decided to come home. When he went to see Marion at the mortuary in St. Ultan's Hospital, he saw that her head and two legs were bandaged. When unwrapping the bandages, he saw two identical holes on the insides of her knees. However, the cause of death on the death certificate was given as acute dysentery infection. Marion's parents went to the Garda at the time, but were told to let it go. The family went to the Garda again 40 years later, in 1996, when such matters came into the public domain. At first, the Sisters of Mercy denied that Marion had ever been in Goldenbridge. However, gardaí eventually uncovered a sick book that named Marion and which read, "one leg burned and a history of vomiting". That is where the case rests.

The accusations in the 1996 RTE documentaries Dear Daughter and States of Fear, which focused on mismanagement and mistreatment in Goldenbridge have never been followed up or fully explained. The findings of the Ryan Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in 2009 were scathing of Goldenbridge as a place where children were humiliated, assaulted and neglected. Goldenbridge should be included in the schedule of mother and baby homes, and the remains of Marion Howe should be exhumed as part of that investigation. This will be the last opportunity for some considerable time to address the issues involved and this commission is the ideal forum for doing so.

I thank the Minister for setting up this inquiry within a relatively short six months of coming to office. I also thank the Minister for Justice and Equality for recently agreeing to ask the Dublin City Coroner to review the case for exhumation of the remains of baby Marion. It is the dearest wish of the family members, some of whom are here today, that the exhumation should take place so that, at last, the cause of death can be determined after 60 years without answers. Their mother and father, who fought for many years so that the circumstances of baby Marion's death to be examined, are sadly deceased.

I welcome the provisions in the terms of reference that provide flexibility for the commission to decide how it proceeds with its investigation. I further welcome the Minister's invitation to the family in a reply to a parliamentary question on 14 January 2015, in which he stated that "the family may wish to consider providing the commission with any information in their possession which they consider may be relevant to its terms of reference". The terms of reference state that "the commission may include in its reports any recommendation that it considers appropriate, including recommendations in relation to relevant matters identified in the course of its investigation which it considers may warrant further investigation in the public interest". This case falls within the commission's remit and Goldenbridge should be included in the schedule of homes to be inquired into.

There are other similar cases throughout the country of families being bereft of their children. Many stories have been only partially told and people have lived for up to 60 years with a legacy of what they believe to have been mistreatment, humiliation and serious neglect of members of their families. They want an end to it. They want to be able to put these matters to bed. As I said, we have taken it step by step. Ireland has been very slow to address the grievances that have been in the public domain and to recognise the flawed society we have had for so many decades. I ask that we re-examine some of the institutions that have and have not been included in the schedule. As we discuss the draft terms of reference of the commission we must ensure it is as comprehensive as possible so that we do not have another generation coming back to this and asking why we did not finish the business while there were still some survivors left.

Let us ensure this is our legacy.

See this speech in context