Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

After listening to Deputy Anne Ferris, I feel inadequate in terms of addressing this issue but there are certain things that I want to say. It is very important that this investigation takes place and I welcome the fact that this commission will be established. It will look at the underbelly of a very repressive society which existed in this country and which was not in keeping with the Christian principles that it so vociferously promulgated. We can see that in some of the statistics which are appalling, particularly when we put faces on them. For example, in 1940, some 26% of so-called illegitimate children died as opposed to an equivalent figure for the previous year for England and Wales of 8%. That points to huge neglect, pain and hardship. It is very important that this story be told and be allowed to be told and for that reason I welcome the establishment of this commission.

Not having direct experience of this in my family situation, I was struck by an incident that happened recently where one of my constituents, an elderly man, approached me. He had no birth certificate and knew very little about his origins and he was seeking guidance as to how he might find something out about where he came into the world and so on.

This was something he had lived with for many years. I have known him for some 20 years and this only came to my attention recently because he wants to try to get to the bottom of the situation before he dies. In that individual story one can see the story of many people. It is important that the inquiry goes ahead.

When I read some of the documentation, I found it staggering to realise how many people were involved. A number of Members of the House have, in one way or another, experience of the situation we are discussing.

In regard to the examination that will take place, it is very important that the stories of people in institutions which may not be listed are told. I ask the Minister, in his reply to the debate, to explain whether it is possible for contributions to be made in that way. I have been asked by former residents of some Protestant institutions whether their stories can be told. I welcome the fact that the Bethany Home is listed, but it is important that the stories of people in other homes are told, no less than the stories of those who lived in many Catholic institutions which are not listed in the appendix.

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