Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is something the Minister has inherited. It is before his time but it is within the remit of the whole House to rectify wrongdoing. People were put into institutions and used as free labour under terrible conditions. Their families were taken from them and they were dispersed with no records, and in cases where there were records they were hidden.

I have met many survivors of mother and baby homes. John, a good friend of mine, has a daughter who recently got planning permission - it took two years to get it and go through all of the loops. He was happy that his family was around him and did not have to move away. All that man wanted was to make sure his family were close. The same man did not know until a couple of years ago that his sister was living within ten miles of him. He passed her in the street and did not know it was his sister.

Another woman I know is Mary. When it was announced that there would be a redress scheme, I called to her with a box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers. I wanted to tell her somebody was listening to her and to give her something to give her an uplift. She asked me what it was for because she did not want to show emotion. She has always asked why she cannot show emotion. It was due to the mother and baby homes. She got married and had children but has always had a problem with interacting with people. She wondered what was wrong. People who have been in mother and baby homes have come out of them scarred.

Resources need to be provided to help them from a mental health, family, work ethic and housing point of view. Everything should be done to make sure people are not suffering any more. There should be no obstacles put in the way of those seeking paperwork to track their children. As a father of four, I could not bear not to know where one of them was. I cannot bear to see anyone who has gone through this system being left with anguish and scars. Those of us in this House should do everything in our power collectively to make sure no one is left behind.

I spoke to a survivor recently who asked me whether they were waiting for them to die before giving them what was promised. Previous Governments have promised different things for decades, such as infrastructure, and have never delivered. If we deliver one thing for these people, it must be that we do not make another false promise.

Let us get rid of the red tape and look after the people. We need to allow them to enjoy the years they have and leave something to the families they have around them now and the families they do not know they have. We need to let them connect.

Can you imagine the anguish of a dying loved one whose last wish is to meet his or her family but who cannot contact them or does not know where they are? I will support everything that will help everybody obtain closure but the Government needs to ensure that no more obstacles are put in their way.

In each of the two recent referendums, 70% of the population voted "No” to proposals regarding the removal of references to the role of the mother and women in the home. Can you imagine that the Government wanted to remove the references from the Constitution? As nobody would be here without their mother or a woman, we need to acknowledge the people who were in the mother and baby homes. We need to ensure they are protected and that their families are helped in every way possible to know what happened in the first place. Consider all the entitlements, including pensions, that the survivors should be given based on their years in the mother and baby homes. Considering the labour they did for free, they should be reimbursed. If you work in this country, you pay your taxes and then you can get reimbursed where applicable. We have to reimburse the people in question. They provided a service, even in the conditions in which they were living, and now need to be paid for what they did. We need to recognise and protect them and give them every legal assistance to help them to obtain closure.

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