Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I respect what Mr. Justice Ryan has said but I am unhappy with the wording of section 4(1)(a). If it is implicit that decisions by judges which caused children to be sent to institutions can be looked at in the general sense, I do not see why it cannot be expressed explicitly in the legislation. The wording of the amendment will not lead to an examination of the role of the courts.

Inquiring into the manner in which children were placed in institutions avoids what we want to achieve, it is too vague. If we are to look at the generality, we must also look at specifics and examine the role played by judges at the time. If we cannot do that, it will place a major obstacle in the way of our work as legislators.

We are not interfering with the independence of judges. The courts implement the law that we make but we must look at its implementation to see if it must be reformed at a future date. This amendment would not interfere with the independence of the Judiciary and would improve the Bill. The amendment would clarify the situation.