Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I must state that on reading the reports in the media in recent days and weeks on this case, I felt a sense of dread, worry and, to be frank,déjà vuabout yet another story that appears to have its origins in the early 1980s and which went on for a considerable time. This has been one of the motifs of the last five years of this Oireachtas, namely, all the different stories of the hidden Ireland that have come to view, from the women who were in Magdalen laundries to the children who were in institutions and to those children who died in institutions and the information Members heard about Tuam. Members are aware that from the 19th century onwards, Ireland was a place with many hidden histories and a lot of institutional care. While some people received very good institutional care, as has been stated, nonetheless what really separates people in institutional care from other people is they do not have parents to whom they go home at night. Regardless of whether such care is in a school, an institution, a hospital or a home, they do not have parents to whom to go home at night and to complain if something bad and wrong has happened to them.

As for this case, I understand the communication capacity of the woman who has been named as Grace is limited and therefore she was not really in a position to communicate what may have been happening to her. Consequently, it is important that the Government reached the decision to provide for a commission of investigation. It is known that the allegations have surfaced over some time and that, for instance, the Committee of Public Accounts has received a series of protected disclosures about the care of a particular individual who lived in that foster home from the age of 11 for a period of approximately 20 years. It also is known that approximately 21 years ago or after 1995, no more people were admitted to this particular home through the health services. This morning, the Cabinet received a briefing from both the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and the Minister for Health.

However, the point I wish to make is the extent to which people have been fostered or have been in institutions and in care in Ireland probably is far wider than the public understands and for anybody who has been in care, these revelations are extremely disturbing. I am very friendly with a number of foster parents, including foster parents who particularly look after children with significant disabilities and who give a huge amount of care, attention and love. I can only imagine these revelations are extremely distressing for them to hear. As somebody who was both in care and foster care until the age of two and a half, I must state that for anybody who was in care - and in the context of the history of the past 50 or 60 years in Ireland, this relates to significant numbers of people - it is important this issue not be made into a political football. This is about people's lives, that is, it is about the quality of their lives, about their dignity and about respect for those people.

It is important that we define a pathway to the truth, which will enable us to find out what happened, in this and related cases, to people who were in this home. A significant number of people stayed in the home, in some cases on a permanent basis and, in others, on a temporary basis, for respite care.

As the Taoiseach said, over the lifetime of the Government, we have done a number of significant things in respect of children. At the outset, the Government made a decision to set up a specific Department with responsibility for children and an agency, Tusla, to deal specifically with the care of children requiring different supports, with the oversight of children in different scenarios and with parents or foster parents who require various supports. We also had a referendum of the people to emphasise the significant position of children in this society and there have been a number of significant legal developments to underpin the referendum that the people passed some time ago.

I refer back to Grace's case. I heard the interview with the chief executive officer of Barnardos, Mr. Fergus Finlay, in the media about the whistleblower's decision to name this woman, Grace. It was a good thing to do in order to personalise the case. It means we can see an individual who may be like somebody we know or for whom we care. The story becomes personal rather than being subject to the dry language in which cases are often addressed by people in the legal profession or, indeed, social workers. The Government has passed groundbreaking legislation in respect of whistleblowers supported by the parties opposite. I remind Deputies that we are in a position to begin to find out the story of what happened in this home as a result.

I commend my colleagues, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, on having the courage to ensure we will get to the truth of this. It will probably take a significant period because, first, Mr. Dignam, SC, must finish his work. We have also been advised of two existing reports while a Garda inquiry is ongoing and has not concluded. There are a great number of areas around which we have some information but the information is not necessarily complete or conclusive. Yesterday, I met the Taoiseach to discuss the recommendation by the Minister of State for a commission of inquiry into this matter. The proposal in this regard was strongly supported by the Minister for Health. It will take some time and it will be for the next Dáil to decide on the detailed terms of reference but the work commissioned some time ago by the Minister of State and the work being done by Mr. Dignam will lead to important information about what the detailed terms of reference of this inquiry should be.

We have a history in this country, unfortunately, of political violence, we have a history of sexual abuse and we have a history of institutions in which there have been both violence and sexual abuse. I felt a terrible sense of déjà vuas I read about some of the elements of this case which have come into the public domain. I welcome the fact that Mr. O'Brien of the HSE appeared before the Committee of Public Accounts earlier and what he said can be subject to further examination and consideration in resolving what is, undoubtedly, yet another element in the story of hidden Ireland. The Dáil, particularly in the past five years, has played an important role in setting this story out for people in order that we understand our society and history better and move towards making Ireland a better place for everybody but, in particular, for people who are vulnerable or who have been abused.

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