Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support the call by Senator Darragh O'Brien for a debate on debt and the role of the banking sector. When I made a similar call yesterday I mentioned the comments by Fiona Muldoon at the Irish Banking Federation conference, which had the odd title "Restoring Confidence, Rebuilding Trust" but did not include a single speaker who might have represented distressed mortgage holders or organisations like New Beginning. If the federation really wants to build trust it must consult the people most affected by this disaster.

I join other Senators in calling for further discussion on the report on St. Patrick's Institution. I am reminded of the comments by Dr. Eoin O'Sullivan in regard to the Magdalene laundries. He pointed out that the people of Ireland knew about the laundries because every family in this country knew somebody who was affected by them. The first report calling for the closure of St. Patrick's was written in 1985. Emily Logan stated that she was patronised and made fun of when she reported on the conditions in the institution and that officials of the Department of Justice and Equality treated the matter with an attitude of indifference because it related to young people who had broken the law. In a day and age when we are about to hold a referendum on the rights of children, this is not good enough. The retraining of 60% of the prison officers in St. Patrick's does not - no disrespect intended - go far enough. We need a full judicial investigation into what happened. How has 28 years elapsed with collusion by the Department of Justice and Equality - I do not think I can put it any other way - in what happened in St. Patrick's? It is not good enough and we need to draw a line in the sand before this becomes another Magdalene laundry.