Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This scheme is not fit for purpose. The Minister needs to go back to the drawing board. The scheme has been widely condemned by survivors and experts. On a human level, it dismisses their suffering. It basically says that many of their experiences are not traumatic enough to receive redress. Boarded-out children and infants who spent less than six months in these appalling institutions are completely excluded. A group of 30 childhood experts wrote to the Minister over the weekend explaining why this is a shocking decision. Trauma cannot be measured by time periods. The Minister completely ignored the views expressed by survivors in the OAK report. That is insulting to survivors who have experienced decades of appalling treatment by this State. The Minister has created a hierarchy of victims here. I do not believe he intended to do that, but that is the reality. The current proposal is heartless and tone-deaf. I welcome that the Minister spoke to religious institutions, but he needs to speak to the pharmaceutical companies involved and demand that they, too, pay for the pain and suffering they caused. Forced adoptions, forced labour, physical and sexual abuse and vaccine trials happened in these institutions. They should all be held to account, along with the State. It is a dark stain on this State's history. The Minister needs to listen to the criticism of this scheme and make the changes that are needed for it to be acceptable for survivors.

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