Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming into the House. As Senator Fitzpatrick said, this is a really important issue. We all have cried a tear and listened to many of the survivors in this country and the adoptees of those survivors who lived in the mother and baby homes. There are a few things I will mention that continue on from what Senator Fitzpatrick was saying. Tusla has stated in the media over the past couple of days that it fears it does not have sufficient staff to deal with the complex work that has emerged from even an initial assessment of the database. We now have a protected database. We have a report coming out that will raise hurt, fear and anxiety among survivors and I hope that we can, for the want of a better word, take an holistic approach to this. We need to look after these women and adoptees. We must prioritise them for mental health supports. Women who do not want to be found must have their privacy protected. I have spoken to women who fear that their past is going to be brought back in front of them and they do not want that because they have left the past behind. There is a balancing of rights issue there, as we have previously spoken about in committee.

I also want to make sure that we have no ambiguity as to the process, what is going to happen to this database and how these survivors and adoptees are going to find out about their past. The timelines and formalities around requesting information must be clear. We must make sure that these women and adoptees are looked after because it is going to be hard on all parties and they need minding, looking after, care and consideration.