Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am both glad and sad to contribution on this Stage. Here we are on St. Brigid's Day, the patron saint of pregnant women and their children, at a time when new life is returning to the earth, and the lack of respect to the new lives of those who were born in mother and baby institutions is still being debated in this Dáil. Here we are again, with the Government's same old refusal to listen to the survivors, their advocates and families. We received thousands of emails on this and again, yesterday and today, I received multiple emails talking about the trauma because that is what it is. It is intergenerational trauma, which the stinginess, mealy-mouthedness and meanness of this Government is leaving for another generation to fix.

We can be in no doubt that we all carry this whether it happened in our families or not. It is an act of extreme disrespect that children who spent less than six months in a home are not to be compensated. I have spoken to the Minister several times about this previously and about a particular case of a lady who spent just less than six months in a home. It is clear that this Government has its eye on the cost to the State and not the cost to the people on whom unspeakable wrongs were inflicted in how they were ignored in the exclusion. With what is going on now with this Government dodging its citizens, we can see that old habits die hard.

I am a representative for County Kildare, and while St. Brigid's light shone across Kildare from the Hill of Allen last night, there is no fear that it found a crack in this heartless Government because, obviously, no light shone into it. The Government's refusal to listen to and heed these people is so chronic that it is cultural. The Minister seems to have fallen into that quickly and easily. It is cultural selective deafness to people who were grievously wronged when they were babies and who are still being grievously wronged now.

I thank my Sinn Féin colleague, Deputy Funchion, in particular, and all the members of her committee for the work they have put into this. I also thank the people who have written to me over the past few days and every time that this issue comes up. I had to apologise to them when I was replying to a few of them this morning because I was not able to respond to them all individually, such was the volume. There were thousands of emails. The volume is growing because the mother and baby home survivors have lit a fire under people that will not be easy to put out. This issue touches people because so many families have experienced some kind of loss or know a family or friend who has. This is small island. We all know somebody who has been affected by this.

What the Minister is doing is cruel and despicable. His name is on it. It is even more cruel and inexplicable that he is content to pass it on to the next generation to carry and to resolve. This shows a lack of insight and a lack of courage. My heart goes out to all the survivors. I welcome the survivors who are present this evening. My heart also goes out to those who did not survive, all the dead babies, and to all who carry pain from past generations that might still be unidentified and unnamed but who suffered these events in their lives. They might be able to tell their stories but their stories resonate with everyone. We all know what happened. It is a story we will be going back to. We will certainly go back to it under a Sinn Féin Government to correct this absolutely disgraceful position taken by the Minister.

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