Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister back to the House. It is important that she allows for oral collation of the history. We should have it in our archives and the National Library for our children and theirs to remember. It is important that we do not ever forget.

As Senator Boyhan has said, records were destroyed. There also exist records that were sidelined. Numerous papers were never filed or archived. There are documents lying haphazardly in various heaps in rooms - files containing the sensitive personal details of 1,000 women and their babies, thought to number about 1,500. There have been fraudulent birth and death certificates, illegal adoptions and trafficking of women.

Sheila, Tony, David and Karl in the Visitors Gallery have spent a lifetime asking for the truth. I have only spent a few months trying to help them. They are here in Leinster House again. They have had no meeting with the Minister, although she is committed to survivor-led investigation and having survivors' voices heard. As they continue to be voiceless, I am tasked with putting their voices on the record of this House today. The Minister promised to see them and to report back before the summer recess. Given the time that is left, it seems her promise will not be fulfilled.

I want to give the Minister a timeline in respect of the records - the 1,000 names that have never come to light - that have been given to me by Sheila, David, Karl, Tony and others. We will go back to October 2012. Two internal memos and a briefing document from Dr. Declan McKeown of the HSE were sent to then assistant director of HS health intelligence, Dr. Davida De La Harpe, and the assistant national director of HSE child and family services, Mr. Phil Garland. They stated that a large number of files containing over 1,000 names-----