Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. It is tough for everybody to try to grapple with what happened in the past. When the Government brought in the redress scheme for mothers and babies homes, it built things into the relevant Bill that created division. It included a timeframe requirement whereby people had to have spent six months in a mother and baby home before they were entitled to redress. That created division among people and categorised them differently even though they were all survivors. Listening to the speakers today and looking at this Bill, some of the survivors will be thinking that the same thing is happening again and that we are not bringing forward something that they need. I do not know if people are afraid that we will spend too much money on this or that it will be open-ended but when we give a State apology to survivors and say that we, as a State, are sorry, and repeat it again and again, it is important that we listen to the survivors to whom we are apologising. We need to listen to them and take on board what they are saying and what their asks are.

I do not believe we will come up with a one-size-fits-all solution. For some people, it is not about money but about support, education and housing. A multitude of headings apply. At the end of the day, these were children who survived all types of abuse, including mental, physical and sexual abuse. They have survived and carried that torment with them for most of their lives. As Deputy Patricia Ryan said, the average age of survivors is now 69 and it is important that contributory pension status is given to those people without any kind of qualification. I say that because these people did a lot of work in this country for nothing. They worked hard but received no payment. If we are to do a redress scheme or help these people to whom we have apologised, that is one way we can do it.

There is disbelief among survivors that only four of the 29 recommendations that were put forward are taken care of in the Bill. That makes it seem from the outside as if the Government is not listening or not caring to listen. It is important that we develop a redress scheme that fits the individual rather than engaging in an exercise of saying we have provided a redress scheme. It will not be as easy to do that and it will take more management and administration, but so be it. If we are to do things right, let us put in the time and effort.

We talk about survivors, how they live their lives and the torment they have been through. We are talking about them again today but they are not happy with what we are doing. It is a huge indictment on us, as a political body, that we are not doing the things that are necessary to respond to the trauma associated with this abuse. While it is being recognised and apologised for, we must now put in place some of what I would call the "pain relief" in terms of support to help people for the rest of their lives so they do not have to worry about housing, medical cards and financial issues. These people have spent their lives worrying about those things and bottling up all that happened to them during their lives.

We should not take this as something we need to do or something that has to be done. This scheme must be something we want to do. We must bring in a redress scheme in a way that allows people to access it easily. We must ensure there is a body, a one-stop shop, to which survivors can go to get advice and as many supports as they need rather than putting paperwork in front of them and driving them away. We need to ensure this is a user-friendly support scheme so those eligible can understand what their entitlements are, what the services are and where they are available. A clear pathway needs to be set out so there is no ambiguity and nothing is hidden in the small print that would mean applicants are told at the end of the day they are not entitled to support because of a time constraint, an age restriction or anything else.

One of the big things I come across is that people are very upset when they are looking for access to their own files and property. It seems that survivors of mother and baby homes and other institutions find that an enormous barrier. There does not seem to be a place, person or entity who can take them in, get them the information they need and give them some closure on that part of their lives.

We need justice, reparation and redress. We are talking about human beings, Irish people and equal citizens, who, through no fault of their own, landed in these institutions. As others have said, they were people of the working class and people of little means. They are the bravest people we have in this country because of what they went through and survived. It is incumbent on us, as politicians, to ensure we recognise that in a meaningful way. I ask that the survivors are listened to and that what they say is taken on board. I know that if we take everything on board, we will achieve nothing but the way the Bill has been structured and the recommendations have been treated has caused disappointment and anger. People tell me not to let this Bill pass because it is not good for survivors. We must look at it again to see how we can make it right for the survivors who need justice because we must provide justice for them.

As no other Sinn Féin Deputies are offering, we will move to Deputy Mattie McGrath who has two and a half minutes. We will adjourn at that stage and he may speak again when the debate resumes.

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