Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The passage of the Bill through the Houses have been long awaited. These days have been long awaited by the families who are seeking answers and reunification with their loved ones. I will begin by recognising the extraordinary work of Catherine Corless who brought this issue into the public consciousness and her fastidious absolute determination to find and expose the truth. We owe her a debt of gratitude. This was reflected in the Minister's contribution.

I thank the Minister because he has approached this with enormous empathy and openness. He has listened to us figuring matters out behind the scenes and Senator McGreehan has alluded to the work we did together. He has also listened to families. All of us have spent a lot of time with families, survivors and those who are heartbroken about the Tuam revelations.The Minister has shown an openness that has brought us to where we are today. There were apparently difficulties and impediments in the first general scheme of the Bill. The Minister has worked in a dedicated way. He deserves the honour, respect and empathy he has shown, and to be honoured for it.

I also thank the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for its dedicated work, led by Deputy Funchion. We were involved in a very long process. The witnesses who came before the committee were extraordinary in their contributions. It was harrowing to listen to their evidence at times but it was heartening to listen to some of the experts. It was chastening to listen to the impediments, difficulties and complexities that lie ahead. The answers that people think are going to be there may not be there. This is a great day and I welcome all of the elements of this Bill but at the same time, it may not bring the peace that we all hope it will. It will, however, bring dignity and respect. That is something to which we can all commit.

There is a unique set of circumstances in Tuam. We use the term "manifestly inappropriate", which in itself is a very strong term but because it is an academic-sounding term, it almost sanitises the barbaric treatment of people. There was a barbaric discarding of human life and the potential that each of those precious souls had and the cherishing they should have received. It is important that they are treated with great dignity and respect.

As the documentaries have come out and exposed what happened, we have been heartbroken and appalled. We recoil from the very dark history of our treatment of women and children. However, I am proud to be part of the Oireachtas and the committee, working in conjunction with a Minister who is overseeing a peaceful end to this. As I say, it will not be without its challenges.

I recognise particular elements of the Bill. The Minister has undertaken to broaden its scope, which is welcome. It is important that second-order relatives were included in that opportunity for a widening of the DNA. I also respect the right for first-order relatives to apply a veto to preserve privacy. That is very important. I also respect and welcome the introduction of oversight with regard to DNA. Where DNA is being gathered in a database or anything like that is happening, oversight is very important. That is a mark of respect to the survivors and the people who are so openly coming forward. That is important.

The Bill is not so prescriptive that it denies the opportunity of new scientific methods. That emerged in the testimony of some of the witnesses to the committee. There is an open-ended element to the Bill and if something new arises in how we may come to identification, we have a means of adopting it and will not need a legislative amendment because there is scope to accommodate it in the Bill. That was discussed extensively on Committee Stage. I am old enough to remember a time when DNA was a new thing. It is now easily accessible via a kit that can be sent in the post. With regard to scientific development, goodness knows what is ahead and what may yet bring peace to families.

I pay tribute to the women who walked through the doors of those institutions, who gave birth, who had no say in what happened and whose rights were neither recognised nor respected. The babies concerned could have been much loved and cherished by our society but were not. In this process, I am proud that we are going to stand by the cherishing of them as people of our Republic, as they should be cherished. I commend the Bill and will support it all the way. I look forward to peace coming to Tuam and to the survivors who were so noble and heartbroken when they spoke to us in the committee. I look forward to them having some sense of peace.