Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his Department for all their work on this legislation. I pay tribute to all of those who may be watching proceedings today, who have fought so hard to shine a light on Ireland's deeply dark past. I have no doubt these proceedings are difficult for many to watch and listen to for a range of reasons and I respect them for their continued courage. Tribute must also be deservedly paid to Catherine Corless, without whom it is likely we would not even be discussing this legislation today. In a recent interview Ms Corless said her work would not be finished until all the babies wrongfully buried in Tuam had been exhumed. She said: "There are babies and young children down in the chambers of a sewage facility, they were discarded, frowned on, treated like dirt, there's no getting away from that and the only way to rectify the past is to give them a bit of dignity and exhume them." I hope this Bill will bring that closure not just to Ms Corless but to the many families affected. What this Bill seeks to accomplish is unprecedented: a reflection of Ireland's uniquely shameful history and repugnant attitudes towards unwed mothers and their children.

I have said on many occasions in this House that I do not believe there are enough actions this Government could ever take to right the wrongs of the past, such was the nature of the crimes committed against these mothers and their babies. At long last, the children interred at Tuam will be afforded the opportunity of a dignified and respectful burial, which is the very least that they deserve. The process to date had been very frustrating for families, a fact which the Minister himself has acknowledged. I ask that we proceed swiftly in establishing the agency to oversee the process and that we begin working to retrieve DNA on site as soon as is practicable. I welcome that this legislation will give the newly established agency the power it needs to access the highest technical services possible, and to have the necessary resources to identify the remains of these babies.

The legislation has been broadened to include a wider circle of relatives than anticipated, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces who may provide DNA to compare with remains. This will provide a greater chance of identification and the dignity of reuniting these families, that were often torn apart, to grieve for lives shown so little dignity in their short time on Earth.

I ask that the Minister makes the process of application and identification as straightforward and compassionate as it can possibly be. We cannot right the wrongs of the past. It is an unimaginable shame that these women and their children were born in a time so much less tolerant and more blatantly evil than the Ireland in which we live today. We can honour the babies of Tuam by continuing to fight to make our society a more tolerant one where those in power stand up for and protect the vulnerable and the innocent so that we never return to those very dark days. We cannot right those wrongs, but we should not stop until each of the babies so wrongfully interred in Tuam is afforded the dignity and respect of the final resting place that they so deserve. I welcome the work on this Bill because I know it undertakes to achieve that. I thank the Minister for his compassion and dedication to this extremely important piece of legislation.

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