Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)

I commend Deputies Connolly and O'Rourke on their amendments to the proposed legislation. Many younger Deputies, myself included, may not be too aware of the State's involvement in residential institutions, which finally closed in Ireland from the late 1980s up to the mid-1990s. I have watched recordings of Deputy Connolly in previous Dáileanna setting out, or painting a picture if you like, of the conditions that survivors endured. I want to say go raibh míle maith agat to Deputy Connolly for all the work she has done.

A number of weeks ago I received an email from Sage Advocacy, as did many other Deputies, flagging to us that this important legislation was due and to inform us of the free one-to-one advocacy and support services it carries out on behalf of survivors. I subsequently looked into this issue further, with the help of a book, Suffer the Little Children, by Professor Eoin O'Sullivan of TCD and the late Mary Raftery. Then I looked at the 2009 Ryan report online. I was deeply shocked, moved and somewhat annoyed by what survivors had to endure. As young children they were taken from their families. When I say young I mean starting from one, two or three years of age. They were taken from their families, brought to a court and sentenced by a judge to be confined to an industrial school until they were 16 years of age. In the schools they were often physically, sexually and emotionally abused. When that was not good enough, they were sent out to work for no pay in deplorable conditions, often hungry and with the loss of their education. Many survivors today have literacy issues.

The former Artane industrial school is in my constituency. I remember once speaking to the daughter of an industrial school resident, who recalled the day of the State apology. She told me her father and the family thought his life would change for the better but really, looking back now, there was so much damage done. She wondered how anyone could recover. In the State apology in 1999, the State acknowledged the appalling failures of care. A redress scheme was set up and the legislation today is adding to the much-needed supports and money provided 20 years ago to some of the residents.

In recent days, I have studied the amendments tabled by Deputies O'Rourke and Connolly. They want to expand the eligibility criteria for accessing the supports to those who experienced the industrial schools and not only for those who received redress. They want to provide a contributory old age pension in lieu of the unpaid work carried out. They are also asking, as Deputy Connolly just mentioned, for the HAA medical card to be provided.

These requests seem minimal and it is the least the State can provide. It is all very well to blame the church, which has not done nearly half its fair share, but we, the State and our society, turned the other way and let these people down unbelievably badly. As legislators, we have the opportunity to fix these wrongs today. We are the only people who can do so. Everyone else outside this Chamber only plays a supporting role.

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