Mary Henry (Independent)

I had thought this legislation was with a view to having European convention cases taken here in order that people would not have to go to Strasbourg to have their rights under the convention vindicated. That is quite clear. However, what I am seeking for a person concerned in this regard is not damages but a remedy. The DG case took about three years to get to Strasbourg. The person concerned was only about 16 years old on being put into St. Patrick's and starting this case. It took at least two, if not three, years to get as far as a ruling in Strasbourg. At that stage, the person concerned would have been old enough to go to St. Patrick's.

My argument is that the person had been in a position to go before the courts in Dublin at age 16, that there was still no remedy, even in the event of winning the case, because there was still no appropriate institution available. The required remedy was a place to go to, not money. Money was of no use to the person concerned in a situation of being put out on the street at age sixteen and a half or whatever. What was needed was an institution to which the person could go. If such an institution was not provided, the next person who appeared likely to be put in St. Patrick's because of the absence of an adequate place in the State, would be in the same position. No remedy was being provided to deal with a situation deemed wrong. One could not simply give money to the person in the DG case and put them out on the street. Some money – not a great deal, I believe – was given to the person at age 18 years and one can only hope it was, somehow, sensibly used for their benefit.

This person, as those who have read the case will know, had been treated abominably by the State – I refer to all of us, not just the Government – from when they were about two years of age. This was not the only instance – there was a constant breakdown in State services for the child. For that or any similar child, there was going to be no remedy as a result of taking the case. It was my hope, in the context of this legislation, that the approach would not be simply in terms of providing a few euro to get rid of the person concerned but that we would also try to remedy the circumstances in which Ireland was found to be in breach of the convention.