Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

These amendments are about ensuring applications are processed in a timely manner. The current wording states that a deciding officer will assess an application "as soon as practicable". That is completely unacceptable. The amendment in my name and that of other Deputies insists that this be replaced with "within 28 days". These amendments are necessary because survivors and campaigners do not trust the process the Minister is proposing. Why should they? Why for one second should they trust anything that comes from this Government and this State? Their lives have been shaped by the abuse, human rights violations and suffering they endured in these institutions. A State-funded, church-run system denied them some of the most basic dignities, both in the homes and then for the rest of their lives.

For decades, church and State have conspired to oppress survivors, deny their rights and make them fight tooth and nail for any progress. We are talking about some of the worst crimes imaginable. I feel like I have said these words so many times in this Chamber: forced family separation, incarceration, illegal adoptions, forced labour, illegal medical trials, denial of dignity and physical, emotional and sexual abuse, which were all systematically targeted at the most vulnerable in society. When the State and church could not deny their stories anymore, they moved to denying justice, then to hollow apologies and, finally, in the last act, dividing survivors and giving the bare minimum to some. I say "the last act" because that is what this is. Time has already run out for so many survivors and others are too exhausted for another fight.

There are thousands of survivors watching this right now and seeing another Government ignore them, belittle their suffering and try to brush over injustices. I know they are watching because they told me so. They are tuning in because they know this is the last chance for any changes to this legislation. All they can do now is watch and see how we are representing their stories and their calls for basic recognition. Can the Minister truthfully say he is doing all he can? Can he really say he has listened to survivors? His redress scheme says in black and white that he has not. He is ignoring the very consultation he commissioned. Survivors and their allies gave their time and energy to make suggestions on an inclusive and meaningful scheme and he disregarded most of them. This is why they do not trust him now.

In the OAK report the survivors made very clear recommendations which the Minister ignored, as will each Deputy who votes for this deeply insulting and harmful scheme. Survivors asked for a universal and inclusive scheme where all mothers and babies would be eligible for redress regardless of the duration or year of their stay. The Minister has ignored this and excluded those who spent less than six months in homes as children. The report calls for survivors who were subjected to coercive family separation outside institutions or who were illegally adopted, fostered or boarded out to be eligible. These malpractices are rightly among the list of abuses and human rights violations that must be recognised by this scheme. The Government ignored this and is excluding those who were illegally adopted or boarded out.

The report clearly states that those who were subjects of vaccine trials and milk formula trials should receive reparation. The Government ignored this and excluded this as a category for redress. Moreover, it is doing nothing to pursue the pharmaceutical companies that perpetuated these crimes. The OAK report states, "The most commonly held view in relation to financial recognition was that an immediate interim ex-gratia, common experience payment, should be paid as urgently as possible." The Government ignored this and is making survivors wait for its scheme and making them go through a bureaucratic process with no guarantee of a timely result. This is not my opinion; this is fact. Survivors know what they said. The report is publicly available. The glaring gaps between a meaningful and inclusive scheme and the Government's divisive and insulting proposal are clear for all to see. Not only is this what survivors want, the UN rights committee and special rapportuers have called for the inclusion of all survivors, the removal of the legal waiver and redress for victims of racial discrimination. Again, the Minister has ignored these calls.

The Minister has also ignored the Irish people. He has disregarded the thousands of emails received from his constituents and mine. This scheme is being carried out in the name of the Irish people and they know it is wholly inadequate. They have repeatedly asked for a more inclusive and comprehensive scheme. The other call from ordinary people is to hold the perpetrators to account. Religious orders and pharmaceutical companies financially benefited from these horrific illegal acts. Assets should be seized as part of criminal investigations. Instead, the Government is in negotiations with these bodies, kindly requesting a contribution. This is not some charitable donation; this is justice.

There is no valid reason not to recognise all survivors. People who spent any time in a mother and baby home deserve reparation. I know that. The Minister knows that. We all know that. Despite the Minister's callous and completely inaccurate description of the first months of life, they matter. They are incredibly significant. Survivors have suffered long trauma because of forced family separation and the breaking of that bond between parent and child. Today, this Minister, this Government and every single Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party backbencher, as well as a few Independent Deputies who quietly support them, will vote to exclude 40% of survivors. They will put on the record of Dáil Éireann that the survivors of illegal adoption, forced labour, illegal medical trials, forced family separation and sexual and emotional abuse deserve nothing. That will be their legacy when the history books of mother and baby homes are updated to cover this shameful scheme and those who support it.

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