Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I suppose it is too much hope for that when the Taoiseach announced he was going to resign, he would depart from his written script on an issue of such importance. Thirty-four practising clinicians wrote to the Minister and pointed out that the six-month period was arbitrary and unacceptable. They work in the area of childhood trauma and pointed out that the impact of early trauma does not rest solely on duration within an institution. The letter, which stated "Childhood trauma ... includes separation from primary caregiver ... has the greatest impact" and so on, was sent to the Minister and was utterly ignored. I stood up here, tongue in cheek but actually serious, saying to Deputy Sherlock that he wasted six months getting up at night with his baby because, according to the Minister's scheme, the first six months are a tabula rasa; we simply waste our time mothering our babies for six months because it does not matter. Allow them to scream and roar - that is what the scheme says. In addition, many people are excluded, such as those who were boarded out, those who suffered from abuse because of their race and so on. The Taoiseach stands here today and presides over that. An intelligent government would learn from its mistakes. We have had any amount of opportunities to learn from our mistakes. Bearing in mind what a previous Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, outlined, the Taoiseach might, in his parting words, say this scheme is unjust, that it is a start but needs to be changed and we will clearly look at the report from Sheila Nunan to use that money to make the scheme inclusive.

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