Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas. Ní raibh ach cúpla nóiméad agam ar an gceist seo. Is ceist ríthábhachtach í agus tá sé go maith go bhfuilimid ar ais ag déileáil léi. Is trua, ámh, nach bhfuil an Bille seo chomh foirfe is ar chóir dó a bheith agus nach bhfuil sé ag admháil na bhfadhbanna bunúsacha atá ann fós. In ainneoin an mhéid atá déanta go dtí seo, níl go leor déanta.

We are dealing with a very complex issue, but we have come a long way from when the first attempts were made by the State to atone for its part in the abuse, brutalisation and indenture of young boys and girls in institutions. We have a long way to go yet, and I am a firm believer that we should not close the doors on those who have not been captured. It is a pity there does not seem to be any move in this Bill to capture those who the vast majority of us acknowledge should have been captured in the first place.

It has always been bizarre to me that a sectarian approach has been taken by the State in respect of Church of Ireland institutions. It is bonkers. Derek Linster, one of those who campaigned on and highlighted this issue, passed away two years ago, but the campaign has not ended. We need to continue to examine not just Bethany Home and the Westbank Orphanage, but also other institutions and others who have fallen through the cracks of redress schemes. There are those who could never bring themselves to engage with any institutions because they were so broken.

I have met them in my office and have tried to help some of them. Some were, in their eyes, let down by Caranua. Others were let down by the early stages of the process. We need to have some mechanism to capture those people and help them along. Many are often of an age where the struggle of their years is affecting them a lot more than they might have in the past. There are a lot of broken people out there who feel let down not just by the State, but by those who were guardians and supposed to be looking after them and instead abused them in many ways, something which has been outlined in the Chamber.

It is right that we are doing this. The figures are minuscule. As a State, we should go back to the institutions which have a lot of money and demand that they continuously pay for the deeds that were carried out under their watch which they facilitated and covered up. They moved people around over the years. Obviously, the State has to play a role for its failures to address this issue when it was first raised. I appeal to the Minister to re-examine the question of the Bethany Home and the Westbank orphanage, in particular, as well as other institutions.

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