Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I was in school there was conversion around the way we thought. Shame and sin took precedence over affection and loving. It was all about shame and guilt. Our idea of the Christ or God was to do with pain, purgatory and limbo. Our history was confined to how we were affected as opposed to what we emanated. I do not like the term because it was not until I got to university that I got a sense of freedom and a thought process - again it was only through the arts - that allowed one to find out who one was.

I commend Senator Warfield. I am a member of the arts committee with the Senator and he stands up for the arts extremely well. He stands up for his people or tribe, as I do for mine in north Mayo. While he stands up for his tribe, people and his age, he also stands up for the future and for the past extremely well. I commend and support him on the Bill. The Minister of State has made some interesting points about language, as have Senators Bacik and Colm Burke. If anything, they just want to help Senator Warfield give this Bill a safe passage. We will help as well. Senator Colm Burke made the point about somebody who is under 18 years of age. How do we deal with that? How do we contain everybody and how do we give this Bill the safest passage? We will do that in whatever way we can.

I read every one of the emails and I responded to as many as I could, but one of the most interesting things I noticed was the humility with which people wrote.That is very interesting because a lot of the emails that come in say "I want", "I need", "I am entitled" or "I have a right". They did not write at that level but with humility, saying this is their life, this is what has happened and this is how they need to move forward, and asking if I could help. I commend the Bill and am delighted to speak on it and to support it. It is an outstanding way forward.