Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, the State has many questions to answer in this regard. What has gone on down through the years is horrendous and I welcome the survivors who are present in the Gallery today. In the Magdalen laundries and the mother and baby homes, people suffered. This was in an Ireland where one could nearly say a blanket was put over matters, there was quietness and nobody talked about the wrongs that were done down through the years. One must also remember the question of where these children were buried. The Tuam Children's Home Graveyard Committee has brought to my attention one such case. There is a graveyard there in which approximately 800 babies have been buried. People in the Tuam area, not now or ten, 20 or 30 years ago but 40 to 50 years ago voluntarily kept the grounds there. Year by year, they looked after the site and put up gates and statues. They did so in a voluntary way when the State had walked away from it. Through their anger and throughout all this, they kept their silence and before the terms of reference were approved, they kept quiet. Sadly, they have not been included in this scheme. While a local stonemason, Liam Kelly, donated a plaque to those children, one thing they found in that area was that even after the searching, some inaccuracies remained. They want all those children to be cross-referenced to ensure the information is factual, proper and right because the information regarding one baby that was named was wrong. Consequently, they want the State to make sure that everything is cross-referenced. The committee in Tuam also has made a request of the Minister through me. Its members have stated they consider themselves to have been left out of this process. They wish to meet the Minister personally to talk to him, to feel included in this regard and to express all the issues and problems involved in the Tuam case. At present, they feel left out and believe the Minister should look again at this and should make sure they are included. I hope the Minister will listen to all these people throughout Ireland in respect of what has gone on. Let us right what has gone wrong. I refer to redress.

Whatever is needed, let us as a nation recognise our failures, learn from what we have done wrong and show remorse for the scandalous things that happened years ago. I will be writing to the Minister in the coming days asking that he take the time to meet with the committee from Tuam and allow their voices to be heard.

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