Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Social Democrats for tabling this motion. We have been here many times and I cannot believe that this has been going on for five or six years. I have been speaking to survivors. They still have no clarity or trust. Some simple redress has been mentioned a number of times in the Dáil. For four, five, six or seven years, or even since the final report, the Government has had access to the survivors' PPS numbers, addresses and so on. What about giving each of them a simple medical card? Many of them are elderly and have underlying conditions. They are not flush. I have spoken to many who cannot get care, even dental care, which is very expensive.

Just give them something that acknowledges their worth to society.

I welcome the fact the Government is not tabling a countermotion. I ask that for a change in approach, however. We have spoken here so many times about doing the right thing and I ask that on this occasion that we might all be in this together. I certainly believe there is no point in closing the door or walking off the pitch if the match is not over. We have to see it out to the end. That is very important. Sometimes, when we are in here, we find it very difficult to understand the thinking and the nature of the game in politics. Let us not have this as one of the biggest scandals in Irish history. Let us be the ones to set down a marker and do what is right for the survivors. We want to do this in order that it will never happen again. We can do it with the greatest amount of respect and clarity.

Somebody is pulling the strings here. Somebody must have told someone else to get rid of these records. I am surprised that the testimonies were recorded on tape rather than digitally. This is what I have been told and I ask the Minister to correct me if I am wrong, although that is a matter for another day. We are in it together and let us do it together. Let us do it for the people out there and let us never allow this to happen again.

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