Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the publication of the mother and baby homes institutional payment scheme. I welcome the scheme, and I ask that we have a debate on it, its importance and what went into the making of it. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, undertook a great deal of work to get that scheme published yesterday. I refer as well to the consultation he has been doing since he took up office to get this scheme over the line.

I reiterate the importance of the church paying up in this regard. We have provided €800 million to these worthy women and children. The church owes them an acknowledgement and it also owes the State. The church should pay up for the wrongs that were done unto these women as well. Let us not forget that every single woman was paid for by the State. These institutions were paid to look after these women and children. Each one of them had a capitation price on their heads. Not one worker in those homes was hungry. They were all fed. Those homes might have been classed as charities, but they were in no way charities. They tortured and abused these women, and the women and children deserve every single cent they get.

I also highlight that GlaxoSmithKline also benefited from clinical trials done on children in those homes and that company should also be paying up. We do not know how much money it gained from these illegal trials and that company deserves to be answerable in that regard.