Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. I do not know if she got to see the programme that aired on RTÉ. To be honest, it was hard to watch. As spokesperson on children, I found it incredibly difficult to watch. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs has done much work on children in foster care and care leavers. We have had it as a central part of our topics for the past two years since the Minister took office. Two things stood out for me. The night the programme aired was the night an apology was issued.

I happened to be at a particular public meeting on the Thursday night after my Topical Issue matter and it came up in conversation. What I did not realise is that the apology never went to the girls. I am not talking out of turn in saying as much this evening. It went out on RTÉ but the girls themselves never received the apology and I cannot understand it. The minimum to which these girls are entitled is an apology to their faces as opposed to one aired on RTÉ. What does the Minister think about that? What does the Minister think about an apology to the girls who were left there, especially since it was only when the story hit the media that the HSE and Tusla decided to render an apology, as opposed to apologising directly to the victims themselves?

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