Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

How does one follow that? I join other Senators in expressing my sincere sympathy to the Cathaoirleach on the loss of his sister and to Senator Coughlan on the loss of his mother.I wish to extend sympathies on my behalf and on behalf of my colleagues, some of whom have already spoken.

I commend Senators Nash and Gavan on their work in support of the SIPTU healthcare workers. I know others have spoken on that matter. I was pleased to come out and support them earlier today.

I wish to speak about the dreadful case of Majella Moynihan. I commend her on her immense bravery in coming out and speaking about the horrific injustice she suffered at the hands of the State and her superiors in An Garda Síochána and about the terrible wrong done to her and her child, that is to say, the coerced adoption and her interrogation and threatened dismissal, along with all her other treatment at the hands of her superiors. One thing was highlighted in a piece about her case today by Orla O'Connor of the National Women's Council of Ireland. She pointed out that after suffering all of this injustice, Ms Moynihan was then denied access to information that she sought from within An Garda Síochána. She was denied access to information on file.

Her treatment, the injustice done to her and the difficulties she had in accessing information should all be borne in mind in debating the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill. We commenced Committee Stage consideration last week but it became clear quickly that the Minister's amendments fall far short of what is required to be done in the interests not only of adopted people but of birth mothers. All of us in Irish society need to ensure that we have a robust framework that is sufficiently protective of the human rights of those involved, the women and children to whom the State did such injustice. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, and the Government need to reflect on the injustice that has been highlighted by the Moynihan case. They need to reflect on what it says about us as a society and what it says about how we should construct the legal framework in the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill. I and my Labour Party colleagues have put forward an amendment seeking to address some of the serious flaws in the Minister's Bill. We need to take some serious time to consider it and engage in dialogue with the Adoption Rights Alliance and others before we can progress the Bill, given what we know now about injustices done to so many women who were forced, coerced or compelled to hand up children for adoption.