Victor Boyhan (Independent)

The guests may have thought they had been downgraded but now they are being upgraded.

The amendment proposes that the "Minister shall, not later than 12 months after the commencement of this Act, and annually thereafter, prepare and lay before each House of the Oireachtas a report on the operation of this Act" outlining the adequacy of implementation of supports to survivors of residential institutional abuse. The report shall indicate the number of applications received and processed, the range and uptake of supports provided, a summary of any appeals or complaints received and an evaluation of survivors' experiences of the scheme. The amendment further states: "In preparing the report, the Minister shall consult a panel of survivor representatives appointed in accordance with principles of transparency and independence." This is in the names of Senators Stephenson, Higgins and Ruane. They cannot be here because they are on other parliamentary business so I will speak on this.Effectively, this is the last amendment so I will take this opportunity to touch on elements that directly relate to it. We have had a long debate and there have been many issues. I know the Minister is going back to the Dáil with this legislation in the next week or two. There is a view that there needs to be a mechanism for reporting on and accounting for what happened and for quantifying the numbers. We know the numbers are horrific and the instances are horrific. I think of that one last week, where an 85-year-old man is now in prison. It struck me in the newspaper article on Sunday that it is an institution that hundreds of people complained about but no one believed them. There was a time when people, including me because the institution is very close to where I live, advocated and asked that the institution be put on. With great difficulty, we eventually got it put on. The Minister was right earlier when she said some were put on but initially they were being refused. The bureaucracy of the systems did not allow it.

It reminded me of a letter. I will not read it out in full. The lady is called Miriam. What jumped off the page was this: "I am writing sincerely to thank you for the courage shown, etc., in relation to the Bill last week." She goes on to say:

Since the State's apology in 1999, many of us felt invisible. The so-called redress process was deeply flawed. We were forced to accept what was offered and punished if we dared to appeal or to speak about it. We had to sign waivers and non-disclosure agreements under the threat of arrest if we spoke about what we had received. We cannot even tell our own stories [I talked to the Minister earlier about people telling their own stories] without fear of prosecution.

That is true. I know many people who availed of redress and were sworn to secrecy about that experience. It was very difficult for them to share their abuses and horrific stories, yet they had to sign an agreement not to divulge the nature of their redress, compensation, contribution - call it what you like. The letter goes on to say: "Meanwhile, solicitors made millions off our suffering." Indeed they did. I looked at a spreadsheet last week to see the enormous sums, millions of pounds, given to a number of solicitors. Yes, they did their work, but many solicitors received way in excess of the compensation, redress or contribution the victims received.

The letter goes on:

They never truly worked for us. They were paid by the State. Many survivors received little or nothing. Deals were done between the church and the State to silence us. Children like us were given criminal records simply for being sent to those institutions, but what crime did we commit? Can people not see the injustices? We were children. I travelled from Kerry yesterday to be with my friends. [Her friends are the ladies sitting here on my right-hand side.] We were fellow survivors. For the first time in a long time within Seanad Éireann or any place, I felt like I belonged. We carried each other's pain. Yes, when I returned home, I cried through the night. Decades later, we still ask ourselves what more must we do for our voices to be finally heard.

As long as I am in this House, I am a voice. I will shine a light. I will articulate and advocate for anyone or regarding any injustice in any institution within this State. I know I speak on behalf of the people in this House. We are advocates. There are difficult tasks.

To our guests, I know how hard it is for you to be here today. I know the courage it took for you to take this journey. You are brave women. You are more than survivors. You are courageous citizens of our State and you will always have a welcome place in this House. I want to assure you of that.

What struck me most in all of this was:

I am not a number now. I am not number 1061. I am Miriam.

I, Victor Boyhan, am not a number. I was number eight. I am now Senator Victor Boyhan in this House. I thank the people across this country who elected me and shared their support for me.

I never wanted to be a politician. I never sought to be a politician. I sought to be an advocate and as long as I am in this House my only ask is that I will be an advocate, that I will have the courage to give voice to others, that I will have an opportunity to shine light in many a dark place, that I will encourage others, facilitate others and help each other so we can have justice. To Miriam I say, you are not 1061, and that must be one of the greatest reliefs. You are Miriam - your first name, Miriam - and I say well done to you because I receive many letters but the hardest, most powerful and most moving was Miriam; not 1061 anymore, but Miriam. I thank you for sharing that with me.

I say to the Minister that it is critically important that we give voice. It is a difficult time, but she and I know in our own families that we have had our setbacks. She and I know in our own families that there have been challenges and cases where our siblings or parents have had difficulties in their own relationships and with their own families. That is life. Yes, there were taboos and many things were never spoken about, but we have now moved on to a new Ireland, a liberal Ireland that is free from the dominance of church, that is free from State control and will empower its citizens. We as politicians or advocates must give voice to people. I drove in today and wondered if this was the beginning or the end of a period of campaigning that has gone on for more than 30 years. It can only yet be the beginning. I say to the Minister of education that there is a plethora of schools coming down the line. She talked about the need for a wider commission, and I think that is important too.

I go back to the amendment and what it hinges on. It is about some way of recording and accounting to the people. One of the greatest fears in all of this legislation is that we tidy this up, because what are we doing today? We are wrapping up Caranua, our “new friend.” It is the organisation we thought would stand in solidarity with the victims, with those who were physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually abused. We were told in the original legislation that they would never be abandoned. Somehow that is all gone.

The Minister's predecessor, Deputy Norma Foley, on 16 April 2024 left Government Buildings and said, "The whole of government is acutely conscious of the enormous trauma which has been endured by all survivors of abuse, including those in residential institutions [and schools]. It is vital that survivors know that government is responding." I do not doubt the current Minister. I have every confidence she will see it through. She is Deputy Foley's successor. She is now the Minister for education. She carries the mantle of responsibility for education and schools. I recited and talked about St. Augustine's, which was a school. It was meant to be educating children, but it was educating vulnerable children, who had already been in care and were going into that place daily. The courts last week sentenced a brother from there who perpetrated the most horrendous and heinous crimes on innocent children. We seek to cherish all the children of the nation equally. It is important that we commit, through the Minister's response to this amendment, even if she does not directly accept it, that there be accountability and a summary of the appeals and complaints processes. I hope to have an opportunity at the end of this debate to set out nine key asks as I leave.

In this final amendment we are closing one chapter and one door, hoping we will open other doors, but we must clearly send a message of solidarity. We must stick with the people we bargained with. We gave them hope when they had none. I am talking about men and women who had neither brother, sister, mother nor father to contact. They had no advocates. They were slave labourers. There were pregnant women in slavery. There were men farmed out, living in pigsties with no support. We owe it to them. We have a diaspora and a new diaspora vision, which I spoke of in foreign affairs the other day, at the kind invitation of the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond.

Maybe there are more of the people I talk about outside the island of Ireland now than there are on this island, and we must never forget them because they too are part of this story. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response to this amendment.