Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like Senator Byrne, I welcome the announcement by the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the Government decision on the need for an investigation into the mother and baby homes, the incidence of abuses within them of the women and children, and the manner of death and the high mortality rates in those homes. Given that many of those children who ended up in industrial schools had been born in mother and baby homes, there is a good deal of information already before different commissions. Having in the past represented survivors of abuse in the industrial schools, I am aware of how often these institutions of confinement were interlinked and how, to the shame of all of us, for many decades of the 20th century there was a network of institutions in which women and children were confined.

While the church and the church organisations certainly bear a large responsibility, equally so do the State and society more generally. Increasingly, one sees an acknowledgement that many women ended up in mother and baby homes because their families no longer would accommodate them. This is a sad truth on which we also should reflect as we embark on a further investigation, which I very much welcome.

I also congratulate SAFE Ireland on the event it organised today on another issue that again should bring shame on Irish society, namely, the incidence of domestic violence and domestic abuse in Ireland. SAFE Ireland organised an event today in Temple Bar which I was glad to attend in the company of a number of other female colleagues from both Houses. This was the event, entitled "On Just One Day", in which SAFE Ireland wished to highlight the incidence of domestic violence in Ireland through providing a window, that is, a visual representation of an ordinary day in Ireland, 5 November 2013, on which 467 women and 229 children were accommodated or received support from a SAFE Ireland domestic violence service. Being the national organisation representing front-line domestic violence services, SAFE Ireland is well placed to illustrate to Members the extent of the incidence of domestic violence and how much they must ensure stronger legislative and legal responses to it. While Members have had a number of debates on domestic violence, I ask the Leader for a debate in early course on the report by the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, which is in the process of producing a report on domestic violence resulting from a series of hearings the joint committee has held. Its members have heard strong testimony about the need for various legal changes and it would be good to have this debate in the Seanad. While the Minister intends to bring forward legislation on this issue, hopefully later this year, and I hope there will be a move towards ratification of the Istanbul Convention, I note there are a number of specific legal issues regarding the ratification of the convention, notably pertaining to the property rights of perpetrators or alleged perpetrators. Consequently, Members could have a good debate on this issue in this House.