Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This again gives us the opportunity to speak about the six-month timeframe. One of the things that we did in the pre-legislative process in the committee was to bring in specialists in childhood trauma. It is probably one of the best sessions that we have ever had because it was so insightful and very interesting in terms of how it works. None of us can know or say what damage is done if one spends two years, two weeks or two days in an institution. One cannot say that someone who spent more time there is more deserving of redress. We are looking for the Minister to accept amendment No. 26, but given the way the debate is going, I have a feeling that it is not going to happen. It is wrong to exclude 40% of the people who are affected. The Minister can make all the arguments as to the difficulty of knowing how the State genuinely apologises for this, but he should certainly not start by excluding a whole bunch of people. That is totally wrong.

Amendment No. 63 seeks to ensure that the other institutions that were not covered by the mother and baby home report, of which there are several, are included. We all know of many such places. I do not know the terms of reference of the report off by heart, so I am open to correction, but I imagine that it was supposed to be a sample or a point of reference. I do not believe it should have been just the institutions that were investigated that are eligible for redress. That would make all of the apologies by the State totally meaningless when it comes to paying out the money that would make such a massive difference for so many people. The trauma they have is as a result of the actions of the State in conjunction with the religious institutions. For example, so many people were never able to hold down full-time work. They are in a different financial situation now totally based on the fact that they had this childhood trauma. I totally stand against this, but for the Government to say that a person had to have spent six months in an institution to qualify is wrong. I do not care if I end up saying that 100 times in here tonight. While we have the time and the opportunity we must keep saying it. The same is true of the children who were boarded out and treated so horrifically. We are failing people all over again. I will certainly not have my name attached to that. That is for sure.

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