John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The mother and baby homes issue stands as a great stain on the history of this State. It has twice made victims of the people who suffered in those institutions, each time at the hands of the State, as victims of abuse and as victims of a cover-up. The Government, which has direct responsibility for the commission, must add its name to the long list of perpetrators who have inflicted suffering on the mothers and children who fell victim to these cruel State institutions.

I am unsure as to whether the Minister speaks to survivors. They speak of the trauma of the past few months and the terrible effect it has had on them. They feel that their truths are being questioned. They feel like they did decades ago, isolated and emotional. They say that the Government's lack of empathy is not helping to close the nightmares that they still experience and that the Government is heartless towards them, survivors who have lost their dignity yet again. They say that a stain has returned to their souls.

Since the publication of the commission's report, survivors have heard sympathetic words from the Government, but they need more than kind words. They require action to address their needs. Ensuring that the survivors can access their birth certificates is a vital first step towards meeting those needs. Through my colleague, Deputy Funchion, Sinn Féin has drafted legislation to make that happen. I hope that the Government will support it. The Government must also immediately act to prevent the mother and baby homes commission from dissolving in four days' time. The Government Deputies who are present today and those who will ultimately make a decision on this matter should take a moment to reflect on how they vote, the impact of that decision on their personal legacies and, more importantly, how it will impact on survivors and victims. Most people enter politics to do good. The very lucky get to serve in the Oireachtas at a national level. For those who are elected to the Dáil to serve, there are a few notable moments of moral duty that must outweigh all other considerations. This is one of them.

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