David Norris (Independent)

Commissioner Rehn is in Dublin and he is welcome. I wish him and the Government well on their discussions but I regret that he was unable to meet representatives of the marginalised and vulnerable. I refer in particular to Social Justice Ireland. It was said he would not meet any representatives of the community and voluntary pillar. I hope the Government tells Mr. Rehn that its responsibility is primarily towards the people of Ireland and Irish society rather than protecting property speculators, delinquent bankers and international financial institutions from the consequences of their gambling instincts and unwise decisions. I make this point in the context of an article on the same front page of The Irish Times which indicated that an 81-year-old woman perished in a fire after her electricity had been cut off. I must emphasise that this was not cut off by the ESB but by her son-in-law, who had just lost his job and was transferring the bill to his wife's name. We must retain the human element. In that context, I welcome the publication by the Irish Human Rights Commission of an interim or partial report on the situation regarding the Magdalen Laundries. From this it appears very clear that the State and some of the religious orders have questions to answer. In particular, questions arise about official State records being incomplete or unavailable, the existence of records in the possession of religious orders, which should be made public, and the fact that a latter was sent to a Deputy in response to a question on 4 September 2009 by the Minister for Education and Science stating that the State did not refer individuals nor was it complicit in referring individuals to the laundries. That is clearly incorrect. Enough questions were raised by the Irish Human Rights Commission for us as part of the Oireachtas to require that a statutory commission is established. This also should include the Bethany Home, which the Church of Ireland archbishop has said should be included in the redress system.