Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)

While the establishment of the long-overdue commission of investigation cannot but be welcomed, I will not, in good conscience, applaud a process that has taken far too long to come into being. I think today particularly of the older survivors I have met and engaged with. They expressed to me how they felt through the years that the State was waiting for them to die, hoping time would erase their voices. The impact of the actions of the perpetrators did not end when the abuse ended. The impact has caused innocent survivors a lifetime of pain and trauma, sometimes borne in isolation.

It is important that open, easily accessible and ongoing mental health supports are made available to every survivor who wants to engage and to their families. Survivors have called for truth-telling, acknowledgement and dignity. They want their voices to be heard. Some survivors, particularly older ones, expressed to me their view that five years is too long. They are fearful they will not see justice or outcomes in their lifetimes. It has also been put to me by those who suffered physical abuse that the scope of this inquiry does not go far enough and limiting it to sexual abuse only risks repeating the exclusion and fragmentation that has plagued past investigations. The fact there is no guaranteed redress scheme is of serious concern. Survivors deserve compensation and support, not the promise of future consideration.

That institutions or religious orders may still evade accountability is unacceptable. Sinn Féin has long called for the State to use every legal lever to compel co-operation and contribution. That must happen. The horrendous childhood experiences of survivors cannot and will not be forgotten by them or their families. Likewise, the State should not forget their lived experience. This State owes survivors more than sympathy; it owes them the truth, justice and action that has been too long deferred. It owes them a proper, fitting memorialisation of that lived experience and their immense bravery and determination, which have brought this State to establish the commission of investigation. That is warranted and needed and must be included as part of the commission's work.

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