Dáil debates

Wednesday, 15 May 2019

Mother and Baby Homes: Motion [Private Members]

 

2:45 pm

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Clare Daly and Independents 4 Change for bringing forward this motion.

I commend Deputy Clare Daly in particular on being very persistent in championing the matters addressed in this motion and those who have been affected, including survivors, relatives and others impacted by the very dark history of this country's treatment of many women and their children over many decades. Over most of the history of this State, there was awful and often abusive treatment of women and children.

As someone who was adopted, I am particularly conscious of the importance of getting these matters resolved and having truth and justice established for people affected by them. I am lucky as in my case things largely worked out well for me but I am very conscious that for many people, they did not, and in this history really terrible suffering was endured. The most extreme horror was visible in the case of the Tuam babies but we also saw stigmatisation of women, with victims being blamed for their own treatment and identities, histories and heritage being stolen. The medical heritage of these people, which is so vital, was stolen and denied to them. There is a failure to fully acknowledge this and of the State to make redress for the suffering and hardship that people endured. Insofar as there have been any moves towards redress, the shining of a light on all these matters and beginning to bring about the necessary changes, it is down to the fantastic campaigning of many people, some of whom I know are here today. These are organisations like the Coalition of Mother and Baby Homes Survivors and many others that have continued to fight for justice, truth and redress.

I very much support the objectives of this motion. I understand it is a complex and large-scale undertaking to get to the truth for the issues we are talking about but I do not see why the important and time-consuming work involved in the commission's efforts prevents us doing certain things in the here and now and having a position where justice, truth and redress are delayed, for many to a point where it is just too late. We must do everything we can in the here and now, notwithstanding the need for final or comprehensive solutions. The key is to listen to the people involved, hear their concerns and be directed by what they are asking. I accept that the Minister has set up a collaborative forum but it is very telling that the mother and baby homes coalition asked for a meeting with the Taoiseach but it was denied. There is an element in the Government that just wants to do the absolute minimum because they are worried about cost and implications; these people are thinking about matters politically or financially, or both, instead of thinking about the human beings involved, the injustice they have suffered and the urgency required in getting redress, truth and justice. It is the point of the motion and I do not really see how the Government can make excuses for failing to do what is being asked here. It is about having an investigation into the falsification of adoptions and having even an interim redress scheme that could be made available to survivors and those affected by all this.

There is also the issue of testimonies and archive material being inaccessible for 75 years, which is crazy. A lovely woman who was in a mother and baby home comes into my clinic almost every week. She gave testimony and she does not understand why there is now a 75-year restriction. I do not understand it. If there are particular elements of these testimonies and archives that must redacted to preserve people's anonymity and so on, it can be done. There is every reason this information should be accessible and part of the public history. It is about opening up to the truth of what happened and shining a light on that dark history precisely to ensure it never happens again. The Government should withdraw its amendment to the motion and do what is being asked, notwithstanding the fact that not everything can be done or completed now. We all understand that, and I am sure those watching in the Gallery and elsewhere also understand that not everything can be done immediately. However, we must do more to move towards what is being asked by the survivors and affected victims.

So much of this was about the State outsourcing responsibility for the care of vulnerable people - women and children - to religious institutions and not taking direct responsibility. It was politically convenient to control society while not taking responsibility for the State's own policies. Amazingly, this still goes on in a number of areas in new forms. For example, there is direct provision and the continued control of the church over many aspects of health and education in this country. Even today, when we question Ministers about abuses, suffering, allegations, complaints or events happening right now, they say they are not responsible and it has been outsourced to somebody else. We are still creating the conditions for abuse, neglect and mistreatment of women, children and other vulnerable people in our society. This will necessitate future tribunals and investigations. All this will happen again. We still have not fully learned the lessons from the question of separating church and State or ending the outsourcing of the responsibility of care that the State should have for vulnerable people in society. That must be done immediately.

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