Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I thank all of the mothers, children and survivors who gave their testimony to the commission of investigation and all those who could not do so for various reasons. I am humbled, as I think we all are, by their courage and strength. It is a huge privilege to be here today to contribute.

The report of the commission of investigation was never designed to deliver justice. It is hugely disappointing and I will not repeat all of the criticisms made already. The Minister has heard them and I believe he and the Government will take action on these criticisms. The report was far too limited. As other speakers have mentioned, it was never going to capture the breadth and depth of experiences. The testimonies of the more than 500 survivors are what enriches the report and gives it value. The language, tone and conclusions, if we want to call them that, although I reject them as conclusions because I do not think they are reasonable, are what make the report less valuable to us. It is our job to take it and make it somehow of value.

In earlier contributions many examples were given but there is one sentence that epitomises the inaccuracy and wrongness of some of the language.It states: "Women were admitted to mother and baby homes and county homes because they failed to secure the support of their family and the father of their child." That these women could be accused of failing anything is unacceptable. They did not fail at any level. Their courage and strength should be commended, celebrated and respected. I know that neither the Minister nor this House have the power to delete that sentence but that and many of the other conclusions should be rejected. None of us has the privilege of choosing the family we are born into and few of us are always lucky in love. To be born into a civilised society, democracy and republic, we should expect to be treated with human dignity and respect at a minimum. These women and children were not. They were denied humanity, dignity and respect. That should be a basic expectation of any citizen in any civilised democracy.

I accept what other Senators have stated, namely that it was not society. I do not think anybody in government is trying to shift the blame. The Taoiseach stood up and immediately gave an apology on behalf of the State because that was what was needed. It will not be the last apology and that apology, in and of itself, is not sufficient. More than 100,000 of our citizens were involved and they are only the ones who are captured in the report. We all agree that the report is not extensive or comprehensive. The report only deals with 14 mother and baby homes and 4 county homes over 75 years but there were many more. There were 56,000 women and the 57,000 children involved and when one thinks of the population of Waterford or Galway, this is a dark period in our State's history. The church, the State and every organisation involved in the State have to apologise to those women whom they rejected, abandoned, shamed, neglected and abused. The descriptions and testimonies are so powerful. The cruelty leaps out from when they were abandoned at the gates or from when they were brought there. There are testimonies of childbirth and of the deaths and the mortality rates are detailed, with 9,000 infants having passed away.

I want us to use the publication of the report to move forward in a survivor-centred way and I know the Minister and the Government will do so. It is critical that all organs of the State are answerable on this, including the local authorities that regulated and funded the system and the Garda. The Minister's commitments regarding access to personal records have to be accelerated, as do the supports for the survivors and the creation of a permanent archive.