Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

From a humanitarian viewpoint, I ask the Leader to make contact with the Department of Education and Science and with the Taoiseach's office concerning the 16th day of a hunger strike outside Leinster House by Mr. Tom Sweeney. Archbishop Martin visited Mr. Sweeney yesterday and has been in contact with the Government, while Government officials have also contacted Mr. Sweeney. We are coming to a weekend of great celebrations in Dublin, with ten accession countries joining the EU, and this matter should be resolved. The issues involved are quite straightforward and Mr. Sweeney is prepared to end his hunger strike provided he gets justice. Reducing his claim from €115,000 to €65,000 does not sound like justice for Mr. Sweeney from the redress board and he has a justifiable case. He spent five years in institutions like Artane and St. Joseph's in Galway. He has six children and is willing to come off the hunger strike provided he gets a commitment that his case will be heard again by the redress board and that his original settlement is restored. In light of the abuses in the country in the 1950s, I ask the Leader, as a former Minister for Education, to intervene as I know she is concerned about this matter. I also thank the Archbishop of Dublin. I congratulate him on his appointment and he is certainly starting in the right way by being so humane in coming to see Mr. Sweeney.