Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and congratulate her. We are lucky to have her leading this particular portfolio at this time. Earlier, I told the House I was reared in an institution all of my life, which many described as a clearing house for children. A number of people, including ushers and people working in catering, stopped me when I left the Seanad earlier to talk about my story. It is interesting that it resonates right across the Houses. I count my blessings that I was a lucky one.

When people leave care, they always say that one day they will tell their story and will be believed. It is very important and empowering to be believed. I am very happy that I am standing in Seanad Éireann, having been through many loops and survived many a battle. I am now playing some sort of role in the democracy of which we can be so proud. That is a personal achievement for me. Not everyone is totally destroyed by the process of institutional care. As I said earlier, it is important to say that many people have had good experiences.

The Minister referred to balancing rights. I am not convinced about balancing rights any more. The more I think about this, the more I feel that in regard to the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill we have to start talking about absolute rights for adoptees. People who have been adopted have an absolute right to know their forename, surname, the time and date of their birth, the place where they were born and the forename and surname of their birth mothers and fathers, which is not always possible. Most applicable than that is the date and place of baptisms or other ceremonies. People need to have that information because they talk about their heritage, background and tradition. They need to know the name of the body which arranged their adoptions. That is all included in the Bill.

I appeared in a "Prime Time" documentary on this very subject some years ago. The next day, as I walked through Dún Laoghaire, I was stopped by an air hostess who told me I did not know her but she knew me because I was a local county councillor. Her husband was with her and she started to cry. She told me that three times a week she went to an institution in Temple Hill in Blackrock and brought children on flights to Boston. She said they thought they were playing dollies with lovely little babies. She brought three babies at a time to Boston and was met by the nuns in a van at the concourse in the airport in Boston and off they went. The air hostess thought they were doing a really good day's work. I told her to do me a favour and go to her nearest Garda station to talk about it because it is an important link to somebody. We know the approximate dates. People sent children from institutions to America. I lived with children with whom I played in the morning but who were gone in the afternoon. Nice people came and took them away. Maybe they were nice.

Only yesterday, I spoke to a very distressed man who came to my home. His mother went away and left him in care. She arrived back three years later having married a successful businessman to collect what they thought was their little boy. They were told at the door to go away, that the child had been adopted and given a chance and that there was no need to come back. The child never left the institution and was behind the door. People received capitation fees to run such institutions. At one stage, there were 100 children receiving State support in the institution to which I refer.

We know of the induction and proselytising of children who were adopted. We know children were sent to unionist families, particularly Protestant ones, in Northern Ireland. I came from a Protestant background and tradition. Children were farmed out to Northern Ireland and Britain. It is a sad, sad history, but we need to go on. I congratulate the Minister. We are very lucky to have her at the helm at this time. I ask her to keep the House informed about this important work on a regular basis and wish her well.