Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Pope's visit to Ireland will be very much welcomed by Irish people right across the island from all different walks of life, not just Catholics. Clearly, the Catholic Church has a legacy in Ireland characterised by enormous difficulty and enormous pain, which was inflicted on people in various institutions of the Catholic Church who were abused, used or badly used. The Pope will probably be staying at the Apostolic Nunciature on the Navan Road, as was the case during the last papal visit. The Taoiseach might confirm that. The nunciature is just a stone's throw from St. Patrick's mother and baby home, one of the largest homes for mothers and babies in Ireland. It was a pretty tough place 30 or 40 years ago in which to have a baby on one's own, after which one might have given it up for adoption.

Will the Irish Government indicate, through the diplomatic channels, that the Pope's agenda may include an appropriate visit to a mother and baby home that is just next door to where he will be staying, particularly given that approximately 2,500 of the 9,000 or 10,000 children who went through St. Patrick's died there? These are the provisional figures we have.

My second question is a more local one on which I hope the Taoiseach and I agree. The Phoenix Park will be the venue for the visit. Will there be a definite fund provided by the Government to restore and reinstate the Phoenix Park, our premier public open space in an urban setting, after the Pope has gone home? During the last papal visit, the park almost collapsed under the strain caused by the great number of people in attendance. The people who visit will be welcome. The park is already putting in train arrangements to take down the gates at all the entrances and to refurbish them during the Pope's visit with a view to reinstating them afterwards. The damage to the park was very significant on the last occasion. The Taoiseach has a local interest in this, as do I. It is very important to Dubliners and people from around the country who use the park to ensure that the Government will provide money to reinstate it to its full glory when the visit is over.

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