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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: General Scheme of Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2015)

Sandra McLellan: ...comprehensive presentations. These presentations not only highlight a number of issues raised in the sessions over three weeks but also raise a number of issues which we had not heard previously and which will be important in the final drafting of the Bill. I am sure all the issues will be considered legally or by the Minister. Some of the material was very personal, in particular...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Children and Youth Issues: Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (2 Jul 2015)

Sandra McLellan: I again refer to the mother and baby homes. Does the Minister have concerns about how the inquiry is progressing? Is it hitting its targets and timeframes? When can we expect to receive an update on it, if not today?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Ombudsman for Children: Presentation (28 May 2015)

Sandra McLellan: I thank the Acting Chairman. I welcome Dr. Muldoon and thank him for his presentation. I wish him well in his role. I wish to pass on the apologies of my colleague, Deputy Ó Caoláin. Unfortunately, questions to the Minister for Health are clashing with this meeting and he is on his feet in the Chamber as we speak. Some of the points I wish to raise with Dr. Muldoon have...

Other Questions: Foster Care (15 Apr 2015)

Sandra McLellan: The Government cannot ignore the fact that there is a large number of victims of child abuse who suffered terribly while in State-paid and -sponsored foster care in the past. There are many cases we know of where children faced horrific abuse while in foster care with little or no monitoring of their welfare. In one specific case, an individual suffered 14 years of abuse between 1953 and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Children and Youth Issues: Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (19 Feb 2015)

Sandra McLellan: I thank the Chair. I welcome the Minister and his staff to today's meeting. I will concentrate initially on the question of accessibility to preschool year education of all children, including those with disabilities. While I welcome the Minister's goodwill and the intentions expressed in his reply, unfortunately the main issue is that most crèches do not have enough proper...

Child Care: Motion [Private Members] (10 Feb 2015)

Sandra McLellan: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate, not only as a public representative but as a parent who, like other Deputies in this House, has experienced first-hand the outworking of successive Governments' failure to oversee a coherent and equitable approach to child care provision. Families have suffered as a result. Those fortunate enough to have work are lumbered with an undue...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Seventh Report on Child Protection 2014: Discussion (29 Jan 2015)

Sandra McLellan: I welcome Dr. Shannon and I commend him on his comprehensive report. I apologise on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Ó Caoláin, who cannot be here this morning. The reports states that "the best interests" were adopted in 2012. Has this changed the reality of the way the State agencies and the Judiciary actually work? I wish to raise the issue of direct provision, however the...

Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation: Motion (Resumed) (21 Jan 2015)

Sandra McLellan: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important debate and I acknowledge the men and women in the Public Gallery who have come to the House to follow this debate. In June 2014, Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia director, John Delhuisen, stated that Ireland's obligation to provide truth, justice and reparations to victims of past human rights abuses must be central to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Children and Youth Affairs: Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (13 Nov 2014)

Sandra McLellan: I welcome the Minister and his officials here this morning. I thank him for his presentation. I shall commence by mentioning the terms of reference for mother and baby homes. I strongly agree with my colleague, Deputy Ó Caoláin, that it is very important to get this right. We have only one chance so we need to get it right. I shall now concentrate on the questions I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Coping with Stillbirth Loss: Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association (16 Oct 2014)

Sandra McLellan: I welcome the representatives from Féileacáin and thank them for their comprehensive presentations. It is a very sensitive and emotional issue that affects many families in the country. I thank Mr. Roche for sharing his personal story, which includes considerable detail. The witnesses also gave an extremely comprehensive presentation which included considerable detail about how...

Interdepartmental Report on the Commission of Investigation into the Mother and Baby Homes: Statements (17 Jul 2014)

Sandra McLellan: This is one of the most important issues with which this Dáil must deal. Members must get it right but they also must get it done. They must be sensitive and respectful and must ensure international best practice guides the investigation. It is imperative that survivors are provided with legal advocacy representation and all documentation and evidence that currently is at risk of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Children and Youth Issues: Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (17 Jul 2014)

Sandra McLellan: I welcome the Minister and wish him well in his new role. In regard to question No. 4 on mother and baby homes, I am disappointed that we do not have terms of reference. I note the appointment of a chairperson. It is important that an international dimension be included in the commission. I ask the Minister to give a firm commitment that the terms of reference will be in place at the...

Order of Business (11 Jun 2014)

Sandra McLellan: My question concerns the adoption (information and tracing) Bill. In light of the ongoing controversy around the horrific events at mother and baby homes and in particular the scandal of children being taken from their mothers for adoption, it is clear from the survivors that there is a significant gap in the availability of information for children who want to locate their mothers. This...

Death and Burial of Children in Mother and Baby Homes: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2014)

Sandra McLellan: No Deputy could be unmoved by the discovery of nearly 800 babies buried in a mass unmarked grave. In fact, the grave was a septic tank. Added to this are recent reports of old medical records showing that 2,051 children and babies in care homes were given a one-shot diphtheria vaccine for the international drugs giant Burroughs Wellcome between 1930 and 1936. The report adds that no...

Leaders' Questions (5 Jun 2014)

Sandra McLellan: News that the remains of some 800 babies have been found on convent grounds in Tuam has shocked the people of Ireland. Only for the efforts of a local historian, Catherine Corless, these children would forever remain nameless in the ground, forgotten in death as they were in life. This scandal of neglect and maltreatment causing the deaths of children has understandably made headlines across...

An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2013)

Sandra McLellan: At the present time we need more democracy, not less. The conscious and deliberate removal or shrinking of a democratic space is and should be a cause for great concern and alarm. Having said that, I acknowledge that there are serious problems with the Seanad as it is presently configured. How could ordinary Irish people have any sense of ownership over the current Seanad when most people...

Magdalen Laundries Report: Statements (Resumed) (27 Feb 2013)

Sandra McLellan: ...of the State. I welcome the Taoiseach's official apology to survivors of the Magdalen laundries which he gave in the House on 19 February. It was moving to see so many of the surviving women and their supporters, friends and families in the Visitors Gallery on the evening in question. I also welcome Dr. McAleese's report which is an important piece of work and should be acknowledged as...

Symphysiotomy: Statements (15 Mar 2012)

Sandra McLellan: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue today. I would first like to acknowledge the fantastic resilience and commitment of all those survivors, victims and campaigners who actively campaign for justice for the victims of this barbaric procedure. As the Minister is aware, these groups consist of survivors of both symphysiotomy and pubiotomy. They have been actively campaigning for...