Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Social Democrats for tabling the motion. I also acknowledge all the work that the Minister has done over the past number of years in this regard. The issues with the report, the redress scheme and access to testimony and other data are well known at this point. The fact that claims are still to based on length of time rather than the degree of abuse or other factors is worrying. The most recent revelation regarding the pharmaceutical tests is also worrying. Those horrific practices have been part of the recent past too. We remember that the organs of dead babies were sold off to pharmaceutical companies without the consent of the parents not too long ago.

According to the Tusla report in 2020, there were 69,000 referrals to child protection and welfare services that year. There were 5,882 children in care at that time with 90% in foster care and 450 in residential care, yet recently in the budget there was no increase of any significant amount for the foster carers who shore up the system and keep it afloat. The State has a duty to all those who by accident of birth found or find themselves in desperate circumstances. I also want to refer to - and the students who are here from the Intermediate School in Killorglin will be interested to hear about - the boarded-out children. I mention two boys, James and Michael Sugrue, who were left at the mercy of the State and suffered horrendous childhoods. They were boarded out from the county home in Killarney, County Kerry. James was aged eight and Michael was seven. The State had a duty of care to these children but sent them to work and allowed them to work in servitude. "You are here to work", they were told. They were sent to a house that had no lighting and no heating. They were not properly fed.

There were not adequate inspections. James said he was physically and sexually abused over many years. He was then failed by social workers. His school and Kerry County Council declined him a grant for further education. That is the legacy of the State.

James went to Hammersmith and made a life for himself in England but Michael was not so fortunate. He suffered with addiction and mental health issues and was found dead in Crystal Palace, south London in 1993.

Later in life, James was forgotten by every redress system. He was not recognised and was denied a full Garda investigation. At every hand’s turn, he was told, "There is nothing we can do." There is still no apology and nothing for those children who were boarded out. Having listened to James, why is he still being ignored? Back in January 2021, the Minister said that people have waited too long for recognition. He stated:

...the State will engage with empathy, humility and generosity with those who were wronged [and] will strive to rebuild the trust so grievously shattered.

James is asking still to this day to put an end to this "eternal atonement", as he calls it, and an end to the turbulence in his life.

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