Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

You are in this House a long time, Acting Chairman, and in this House over the years we have dealt with many sensitive and tragic personal cases. Deputies will appreciate that as Minister I have an obligation to respect the privacy of individuals as much as possible. As I outlined, I hope to meet with Ms Moynihan, along with the Garda Commissioner in the coming days. A number of important issues have been raised by Deputies O'Callaghan, O'Connell and Catherine Murphy. In response to Deputy Catherine Murphy, it is possible that there are other cases, given the nature of Irish society over so many decades. At this point women have been serving as full members of An Garda Síochána for 60 years. Currently, I am not aware of any specific cases that are similar to that of Ms Moynihan's case but, undoubtedly, other cases may emerge. If Deputy Catherine Murphy or any other Deputy has information I would be happy to hear from them, not only in respect of An Garda Síochána but perhaps right across the public service because, sadly, for far too long single mothers and many others who did not appear to conform to the dominant mores of the time suffered severe social stigma in Ireland in a way that we would consider to be utterly unacceptable and abhorrent in today's world. Both Commissioner Harris and I acknowledged the courage and bravery of Ms Majella Moynihan in coming forward in the manner in which she did. We stand ready to provide whatever support we can in the circumstances. I look forward to meeting Majella Moynihan. In the meantime, I am in close contact with the Garda Commissioner and my hope is that the meeting will take place in the coming days.

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