Aideen Hayden (Labour)

I congratulate my colleague, Senator Moran, on organising this debate. As someone who practised as a solicitor in Drogheda and Dundalk for a number of years, I am personally aware of a number of cases that arose from activities at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. I refer to this matter and to a number of other matters. It is ironic that we are celebrating and commemorating the 1916 Rising in Arbour Hill today. The culture of silence that existed in this country for many years allowed this practice and a number of other problems to develop. I refer to the laundries, forced adoptions and sexual abuse, etc. This is a particularly sad issue because every woman who has ever had a child knows the fear one experiences in advance of one's first childbirth. It is particularly abhorrent to every woman in this country that medical professionals unilaterally ignored their patients in this way, preferring instead to impose their own views on sexuality and contraception on them.

I would like to make a brief suggestion before I conclude. We are all aware that records have disappeared. Certain medical professionals - they know who they are - should be asked to come forward. Perhaps they could be given some level of immunity that would encourage them to step up to the plate by making the evidence they have available.