Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also congratulate the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste on the genuinely moving and considered speeches they made in the Dáil yesterday. I must admit that I became very emotional about yesterday's events. I take the opportunity to remember the work of the late Mary Raftery, a journalist who tirelessly worked to expose institutional abuses. We owe a debt of gratitude to her for that work. It is important to remember that what is happening is a step along the road. The real proof of the pudding will lie in the quality of the redress that will be given to the victims of the Magdalen laundries. I regret to say that I do not believe this is the end of the story. There are many hidden histories in Ireland which remain to be uncovered. In that context, I refer to what occurred in county homes. As a young child, my father took me to visit an elderly relative in one of these homes. During our visit I saw through an open ward door an elderly lady sitting naked. I heard noises in that institution the likes of which I had never heard previously. Will the Leader bring to the attention of the Minister the fact that what we need to do now is, as Donogh O'Malley put it in 1969, take the skin off the pudding. Rather than waiting until the next unfortunate case is brought to our attention, we should consider establishing a permanent national investigations unit which could look into all of the institutions of the State to uncover evidence of any outstanding instances of abuse.