Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I thank my colleagues and acknowledge the very powerful words that have been spoken today. I also acknowledge all survivors, their strength and resilience and their voice. Without it, we would not be here, and none of the changes that have happened over time would be possible. I acknowledge Sheila and Catherine, who are with us today. As my colleagues have rightly done, I acknowledge Senator Boyhan. I thank him for his advocacy, not just on his own behalf but on behalf of so many others who did not have the opportunity to be here. I commend their strength and resilience and the way in which they have not let this define them but enabled it in order to support so many others as well. I really acknowledge that and their voice here today.

I am absolutely committed to working with all colleagues here in supporting victims and survivors, as we all are, for the very simple reason that they are our grandparents, parents, siblings, children, friends, work colleagues and members of our community. There is not one of us impacted either personally or by those around us by what we are discussing here today, not just children in industrial schools and reformatories but the litany of abuse that was inflicted on so many young people and those who are vulnerable. There is an onus on every single one of us to do everything we can to protect our children - all children - in this State; those who are most vulnerable and who need our help the most. We must do everything we possibly can to ensure that these forms of abuse never happen again.

That requires institutional change in every sense of the word. It requires societal change. It requires us to have these very difficult conversations. It requires difficult decisions to be taken, be it through legislative means or otherwise. It means making sure those who are responsible acknowledge it, not just the State - we have heard today about the various apologies - but also our religious groups and orders. I agree with Senator Boyhan; I do not think we can say that about every order and those in it. In fact, we cannot. I know we cannot because we all know wonderful people in our churches. However, there is more the churches need to do in terms of finance and acknowledging their role. We need to continue to ensure that their role is much stronger than it has been. Where funding is required, we must certainly ensure that this is to the fore and that the institutions pay much more than they have.

We have touched on different aspects of the Bill. As I said, we are using the Bill to try to close a door or anything. The purpose of the Bill is to put on a more permanent footing supports that are in place, such as the €1 billion or so that has been made available through the redress scheme. We are going to build on that and provide additional supports.

Housing supports amounting to approximately €70 million provided for various needs through the scheme, and approximately €20 million has been provided in respect of health. These were once-off payments, however. What we are trying to do with the Bill is provide supports on a continuous basis. I appreciate that there is more we need to do, be it in our engagement with Sage Advocacy or further engagement with victims and survivors, which has to happen in many different ways, or in our support for those living abroad. I acknowledge the different agencies and organisations that support survivors abroad. We need to do more to support them in their work. I am absolutely committed to doing that.

I also acknowledge those who have advocated for what we are discussing today. I refer to Patrica Carey in particular, but also to all those who have engaged and worked with my Department and my predecessor, Deputy Foley, to get us to this point. I want to see these supports provided as quickly as possible. I want to ensure that we can put in place these measures, whether it be for education, health or otherwise, as quickly as possible.

I welcome the support of colleagues for this legislation. I am very happy to engage between now and the Committee Stage on the various issues that have been raised.

What is proposed will never erase or put a stop to the trauma that has been inflicted on so many people, as we have heard, in many different ways. When we consider what happened in our past, it is very difficult to imagine that was the world we lived in. Thankfully, however, we have, in many ways, moved on and changed. We need to make sure that we continuously acknowledge and support those who were impacted and do everything we can to make sure that young people and children and those who are vulnerable are not impacted in today's world.

Again, I thank those who spoke. I look forward to engaging further with Senators on Committee Stage and on Report Stage. I acknowledge Sheila and Catherine, who have just left the Chamber.