Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This week the Dáil will be discussing and, I presume, passing the Mother and Babies Institutional Payment Scheme Bill 2022. At least that is its intention. I do not want to rehash all of that today. Suffice it to say, the Bill is in the Dáil and many of us have received hundreds and hundreds of emails about it. I tend to respond to them all as a collective group because it is important that we engage with people and people feel absolutely isolated.

In essence, when one distils the information before us in these emails, which all the Senators in this room have received as is clearly indicated on them, they are calling for two things. First, they are calling for the Government to expand the redress scheme to include those who spent time in mother and baby institutions or county homes, and to make an enhanced medical card available to those survivors. Second, to extend the scheme beyond the abuses, to include boarding out and adoptive placements or abuse through forced labour, vaccine trials, racial and disability-based discrimination or illegal expatriation outside the State. These are simple issues.

I am appealing to Members of this House who are members of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and all other parties to use their influence tonight and speak to their colleagues. Let us have a bit of compassion in our politics. Let us understand the hurt and the feeling of betrayal these people have suffered. I plead with Senators to spare a little extra time and thought and demonstrate that we can show compassion, care and genuine concern for these people and provide the simple support of an enhanced medical card and some reasonable contribution towards the counselling and support services they need. We are failing them if we do not do that. They have asked this of us in hundreds of emails in the last few days. Please let us not say here today that we can walk around the corridors of this House and are indifferent. We have the power, the function and the ability to communicate with the powers that be in Dáil Éireann. I appeal to everyone in this House to do so in the next 24 hours.