Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this very important Bill, which would amend section 252 of the Children Act 2001. I sincerely thank the people who have worked on the Bill, as well as those who worked on the amendments, which are very important. The Bill, when enacted, will allow grieving parents to speak publicly about their deceased child. One of the most horrendous things any human being could ever endure is the loss or death of a child. The way the aftermath of such a situation is dealt with is of paramount importance. That is why we as legislators, be it in the Seanad or the Dáil, have a serious onus of responsibility and a duty of care to ensure that what we do is correct, while being mindful of those families' situations and doing everything we can to protect and ensure the legacy of the deceased person.

We must remember that when a child dies and is robbed of life, he or she is also robbed of the future, of his or her dignity and of his or her place among us in this world. We should cherish the child's memory in a very special way. We should respect the parents, the siblings, the aunts and uncles and the extended families by ensuring that the child's name can be spoken and printed and can be out there so people know that person existed. I know that the recognition of every child, be that child born or unborn, is a matter very close to the Acting Chairman's heart, though that is a subject for another day.

The Bill, with the Minister's amendments, would appear to bring about very welcome and needed changes. An outrageous situation developed when the Court of Appeal ruled that the spirit of section 252 of the Children Act 2001 also applied if a child was deceased or had reached the age of 18. Everyone will agree that it is desirable to have a text that will be clearly understood by the Judiciary, practitioners, relatives of injured and deceased parties, witnesses and members of the media. I thank senior counsel Senator Michael McDowell and others who put so much effort into this, such as Deputy Jim O'Callaghan and all the others who worked on the amendments. How situations like this are dealt with is so important.

As we are talking about deceased persons, I will also use this opportunity to support what Deputy Michael Collins said and give the Kerry perspective on it. Up until now we had a cruel situation where ten people were allowed go into a church for a funeral. Given the size of the smallest church in Ireland, a person who is deceased and ten people is a very small number and there would be more than adequate and ample room in one for social distancing. There could be 50 people in the majority of the churches I know and they would be more than adequately socially distanced. They would certainly be more socially distanced than they would be in any of the places that are allowed open at present, such as stores, shops, food shops and so on. It made no sense and even the increase the Government has brought in now to 25 is ridiculous. That is not right either because in any Irish family there will be more than 25 people among the very close relatives, such as the sons and daughters, the sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and the grandchildren. It would be respectful to allow the immediate family in its entirety into the church. They would be able to do so in a safe and proper manner. Seeing people sitting in motor cars listening to the funerals of loved ones or watching them on their phones was one of the most disrespectful, horrible and awful things to see in the last number of months.

It has been horrendous to stand outside under umbrellas in the rain looking in to one of these devices. It is outrageous and I am sure that the majority of Members of this House would agree. The only reason I bring this point into this debate is because it is ultimately a consequence of one of the issues that we are speaking of today.

This Bill is welcome, timely, right and proper. There is a great deal more work that we should be doing when it comes to the protection of children and to how their deaths are dealt with, be they from unlawful acts such as murder, or in the case of accidents or mishaps that happen which result in the death of a child. Every support that the State can offer and every agency that we can have in place should be put in place. There are good groups working out there who deal with bereaved parents. Over the years, unfortunately, I have had to assist many couples who have gone through this trauma. As a public representative one of the most upsetting and humbling experiences that one will have to deal with is to be inside the home of a person who has died at a young age. It has consequences which continue for years and years afterwards. There is no end to the hardship and to the mental and physical agony that parents, siblings and relatives of a young person go through. When a young person’s life is robbed, the hopes, aspirations, dreams and ideals that one would have had for that young person all go with them into a grave. This is shocking, awful, horrible and horrendous.

It is very timely that we are here today and that we are all of the one frame of mind. It is totally immaterial whether we are Sinn Féin, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Independents or whatever, as we are here to work for those parents, families and for those types of situations and we are all wearing the same colour shirt when it comes to doing that job, in my humble opinion. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

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