Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for answering my question, but this is an issue that this Government and previous Governments have dealt with. The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters was set up in 2015. Its report was published in 2021. The Government has to have considered this matter. It was raised by the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, in respect of Limerick and the ongoing case relating to public and private records. It is an obscenity, or in the words of Fintan O’Toole, who I rarely quote, it is “grotesque” to distinguish between public and private records when we supervised and funded all of these schools and institutions. Is the Taoiseach telling me that a steering group has been set up specifically in respect of what are described as the private records held by institutions? Is that what the Taoiseach is telling me? There has been a great deal of confusion between public and private records. We owe it to this man who, at 74, is still struggling and who, in 2023, is being taken to court by the Christian Brothers. It is grotesque that decisions have not been made, actions have not been taken and the appropriate legislation has not been passed to protect, conserve and make these records available. If the Government wants to work hand in hand with us, it must create trust. The Government has gone ahead with a mother and baby institutions redress scheme that excludes over 22,000 people, not to mention those who were boarded out, those who suffered as a result of being of mixed race and so on. I am over time. I apologise for that. Honestly, it is time for straight talking, for creating an environment of trust and for passing on that trust to the survivors.

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