Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

I appreciate the Minister's concern but four people have had to take this action. I have asked them to stop. It is very difficult to watch four people on hunger strike. The Minister talked about consistency. All of the governments have been consistent in their mean-spirited approach to this. They have been saving pennies while spending other money foolishly, as was outlined earlier on. The requests are basic. These people want access to a contributory pension and to a special medical card, the HAA card. I know the background to that card and the specific Act it related to. I also know why it was brought in. I will go back to Mr. Justice Quirke, who specifically asked for a HAA medical card for Magdalen survivors. I have mentioned all of the other processes that were set up, the special advocate, Patricia Carey, the Justice for Magdalenes group and the Department's own report back in 2019. We cannot continue with this mean-spirited approach. There is a finite number of people involved. It is time we made our apologies mean something. We have had 26 years of apologies and different redress schemes, all of which have been unjust, exclusionary and unfair. Let us finally learn.

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