Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Today, I will discuss the "RTÉ Investigates" report televised on Wednesday night. It brought to light more atrocities and heartbreak. When one looks at the people affected, one can see the heartache and exhaustion on their faces. The story of our dark past is absolutely relentless. As a Christian and a Catholic, I always separate the institution from my faith. It was very hard to see that these people who espoused Christianity and decency, hounded women for money which they did not have to pay. It was a disgusting act.

I welcome Senator Bacik's Bill. The Government will bring forward Fianna Fáil's Bill very soon. I hope we will have cross-party and Opposition support to bring that legislation through. The adoption Bill is very important. We need to get it through the Houses and get Members to work on it. I absolutely agree with Senator Bacik about working on the issue of illegal adoptions. I would appreciate it if we could get the Minister with responsibility for children to the House to discuss how we will rectify the issue of illegal adoptions. How will we investigate and fix this? How will we provide people with their truth and answers? Due to the fact that these adoptions were illegal, we do not know all the truths. Can we trust the records? This issue seems relentless but we do need a clear path and a clear focus in what we do next in order to be able to give answers to the people affected.