Seanad debates

Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Institutional Burials Act 2022 (Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam) Order 2022: Motion

 

10:30 am

Photo of Mary Seery KearneyMary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion. The sooner we get through this motion and get on with the excavations in Tuam the closer we will be to families having some sort of closure, which is long overdue. I am mindful and grateful that this is the honouring of a commitment made in July. It is now September and according to the briefing note, it will be 2023 before there are excavations on the site. In the meantime, we will have winter and I am concerned about the possible further deterioration of remains during that time. We must move as quickly as possible on this issue.

We are talking about children in State-sponsored care. Yesterday, we had representatives of foster carers and social workers before the Joint Committee on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration. They talked about the shortcomings for children in State-sponsored care today. We have the hangover of the State-sponsored care and the people who were marginalised and who suffered from an inherent bias and a condemnation of them by virtue of their birth. Unfortunately, it is a sadly repeated theme, and it is quite shameful that it continues.

It is an open sore for the families. I am mindful of the people who came in during the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Institutional Burials Act and the absolute anguish they were going through, wondering what was there - if their sister or other family member were there and whether they could be identified. In that context we have the horrible vista for them that they may not get resolution given that the deterioration may be at such an advanced stage.Reading the reports of the commission, they contain stark statements that lack hope, in many instances. I found myself quite moved when I saw the television pictures of work beginning in Tuam, and I am not related to anybody there that I know of, barring any secrets which are very possible. From the families' perspective, to see the site opened and activity on the site will be traumatic. It will be important that we have services, that we highlight the supports that are available and that we acknowledge that the entirety of the truth coming out has been trauma-inducing for them, and the continuing process is trauma-inducing. That is just the people associated with Tuam. Then we have all of the other mother and baby homes survivors and those for whom this process, while it is ongoing, is also going to be traumatic. I think it will be incredibly important that we advertise counselling services and that we ensure that adequate and proper counselling services and supports are available for people. I am mindful that in the coming weeks we will be debating the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022 in this House. I am mindful that the media reporting, as we move through the legislation that is desperately needed, is trauma-inducing for the people who are survivors. It is a shameful stain on our State. It is horrific. It is important that we move through the process quickly, but it does bring me to mind of the children here and now. What is the present day version of this? Who are the children who are currently being neglected by our state? I will come back to that another day. I support the motion. I am anxious that we move through is as quickly as possible, so I will keep my remarks as brief as possible. I welcome the motion and the commencement of the works.

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