John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I cannot understand why people are saying there is no clarity about this. The Minister of State could not have been clearer. The people who lived in Magdalen laundries suffered an enormous abuse, not just of civil rights but of every single right they had and that was perpetrated by the State. The Taoiseach acknowledged this in his speech some years ago. What possible incentive could there be for the representatives of the State to backtrack on what the Taoiseach so generously said at the time? I understand it is procedurally cumbersome, as I understand and as we see today, but I am prepared, uniquely on this issue, to say this is a red line issue. I am sure everybody in the House is prepared to do likewise. The Minister of State and the Taoiseach are prepared to do likewise. In the procedures available to us and structures set out for Committee Stage, we are being offered the exact clarity we are seeking. I suggest the entire moral authority of the House should be thrown at whatever gaps are not being covered by the legislation.

It is as clear as day to me what is being provided since the Minister of State spoke moments ago on the record of the House. Some elements cannot be provided under the terms of this legislation. We can agree on that as the medical card scheme or the Health (Amendment) Act, HAA, schemes work through the Health Service Executive and not through primary legislation. It is through regulation instead. I am probably confusing matters even more but it really is clear that the ten points raised by Justice for the Magdalenes-----