Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Why has the interim report not been published? If we are going to learn anything, it is to show respect. The Minister spoke about respect and dignity and I appreciate her bona fides. However, she published a report about the Tuam home last Friday without talking to any of the survivor organisations. No explanation has been given as to why this interim report, which the Minister has had since last September, has not been published. If we are going to create confidence, that will be the first step.

The second step is that I want an assurance that the site in Tuam will be properly and forensically sealed off, as well as the full details given on this. I want an assurance that the date for applications will now be extended because quite clearly more survivors, workers and concerned people will come forward in view of the discoveries so far.

We must look at expanding the terms of reference. That can only be done, however, when we see the contents of the interim report. That is why it is essential we see what has been learned so far, rather than having us ask questions as to what is being hidden. That is not my style but when an interim report is not published, then it begs the question as to why.

Without a doubt, Tuam cannot be seen in isolation but as part of an overall system. When we have a Taoiseach talking about no nuns breaking into our homes in the middle of night, the Minister might agree that this is missing the point. These mother and baby homes were set up in total collusion with the State and successive Governments. Reluctantly, I will take this opportunity to quote a man. It is a good quote. Oliver St. John Gogarty summed up the situation well in 1928 when he declared to the Seanad, "It is high time the people of this country find some other way of loving God other than by hating women."

On many levels, we have continued in that vein, namely, of loving a God by demonising other people, in this case women. We have a history of doing that. The question of morality, fallen women and all of this terrible terminology was used to hide the pervasive poverty and class distinction. We have to be honest. Poor women were taken away. While the nuns themselves did not come in the middle of the night - it is not my job to demonise nuns - the State was utterly complicit in what the nuns did. If they did not come in the middle of the night, the system made it that these women did go. Separately from that, what has been ignored utterly is how many women were subject to rape and assault and ended up in these homes, adding insult to injury.

I accept the Minister’s bona fides but let us see it in action. Let us take on the practical suggestions I have given her and have the interim report published immediately.

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