Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is noteworthy that the Minister is sitting on his own and there is not a single other Minister or backbencher beside him. That in itself tells a story about the Bill.

In his seven-minute contribution the Minister outlined that no scheme will cover everything. The point about this scheme is that we are meant to have learned from the past. I spoke about the situation in 2012. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae captured it when he said that we were dragged screaming to it. None of this was done proactively by any Government, not just the current one. It was the work of Catherine Corless, the people in the Gallery, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Clann Project on the ground and many others. They repeatedly educated us, backed us up and supported us, as they did in respect of the Government. They did not discriminate like the Minister's scheme does. The scheme is discriminatory, divisive and faulty. We will have learned nothing if we go ahead with it. At a most basic estimate, the Minister is excluding 40% of the people affected.

The Minister had no answer to the question asked by Deputy Cairns regarding the basis on which he made the decision. Is he still holding to the tabula rasaapproach and saying that children do not matter? Is it the case that Deputy Sherlock, who has minded his child for the past six months, has utterly wasted his time because it did not make a difference? What the Minister is saying is that he could have simply left the child because it did not make a difference. I do not think he means that, but that is what he is saying. He did say it in the past, but I am sure he has changed his mind. This is a scheme that cannot go ahead.

Where are the religious orders? Part of our review and the points set out is that we look to see where are the other organisations. The Minister sent a letter or negotiated with them back in January 2021. What happened? What have the religious organisations said? What is the overall value of having an inclusive scheme and what needs to be contributed by the religious orders?

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