Peadar Tóibín
Question:10. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will provide a list of all State apologies he has issued since he assumed office. [12558/22]
View answerTuesday, 29 March 2022
Questions (10, 11, 12, 13)
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:11. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will provide a list of all State apologies he has issued since he assumed office. [14272/22]
View answer
Paul Murphy
Question:12. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will provide a list of all State apologies he has issued since he assumed office. [14275/22]
View answer
Bríd Smith
Question:13. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will provide a list of all State apologies he has issued since he assumed office. [14277/22]
View answerOral answers (33 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 13, inclusive, together.
Since taking office, I have issued one formal apology in the Dáil, on behalf of the State, for the hurt experienced by many former residents of mother and baby institutions and county homes. I apologised for the profound generational wrong visited upon Irish mothers and their children who ended up in a mother and baby home or county home and for the shame and stigma to which they were subjected. As part of that apology, I acknowledged that the State had failed in its duty of care to the mothers and children who spent time in these institutions. That apology was one of the first steps taken by the Government to respond to the findings of the report.
The overall response is being driven by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, who is now working to advance the action plan for survivors and former residents of mother and baby homes and county home institutions. The plan commits to a suite of 22 actions across eight key themes, namely, a survivor-centred approach, a formal State apology, access to personal information, archiving and databases, education and research, memorialisation, restorative recognition, and dignified burial.
Today, the Government took a decision to publish the legislation pertaining to the mother and baby institutions payment scheme along with the national centre for research and remembrance related to institutional trauma, which will be strongly resourced by the Government. The information and tracing legislation is making progress in the Oireachtas. The burials legislation also has been published. We spoke earlier about the decision that the former Magdalen laundry on Seán MacDermott Street will be the location of the new national centre for research and remembrance. The Secretary General of my Department did a lot of work in that respect and there already has been a great deal of collaboration. That needs to continue.
People sought information on this earlier. The intention is that the centre will be a museum and exhibition space, for which the National Museum of Ireland will have responsibility. It will be an archival, repository and research centre forming part of the National Archives of Ireland. The latter will be responsible for bringing together all the archives pertaining to mother and baby homes, industrial schools and Magdalen laundries and will be resourced to do so. It will become a centre for academic research, will allow for access and will be a centre for solemn reflection and remembrance. Remote access to digital records will be made available because we are conscious that there must be access to these records from all over the country. That availability will be made easy. We will work further with Deputies on this.
The Farrelly commission examined the issues around the Grace case. The way the State treated Grace was utterly shameful and represents, perhaps, one of the greatest scandals of modern Ireland. Is the Taoiseach aware of the Alice report, which deals with a case bearing a striking resemblance to the Grace case? The primary difference is that Alice can speak while Grace is non-verbal. Alice was removed from her home eventually, after allegations of sexual abuse. She was placed in a foster home, where there was further physical and sexual abuse. That abuse was reported repeatedly to social workers and to the Garda but no investigation was undertaken for years. A total of 16 children were then fostered by the same family. It is a harrowing case.
I have the Alice report in my hand only because Alice gave it to me. I assume the Farrelly commission is focused just on the Grace case. The real question is how many cases like it are there? Will the Taoiseach establish a commission to examine the State's response to all historic allegations of abuse of children in State foster care? Will he apologise to Alice and meet with her?
Does the Taoiseach think, as I do, that it is time the State issues an apology to all those who are homeless in this country and for whom the State has failed in its duty and obligation to provide the most basic thing, which is affordable, secure housing? The homeless figures are accelerating disastrously once again. Despite all the talk about Housing for All and all the policy measures the Government claims it is taking, the number of people going into homelessness is increasing. There now are more than 2,500 children who are homeless. Are they not owed an apology? They will be marked for life by being in homeless accommodation.
Will there be an apology for working people, as I mentioned earlier, who are working in our hospitals, local authorities and in Tusla? I have cited cases in this regard today and on other days. These people cannot, on their earnings, afford the rents that are out there and, in many cases, they are denied social housing support and are in emergency accommodation. I met a council worker last week who is sleeping in his car. He is working for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and is sleeping in his car. This is a disastrous failure by the State to meet its most basic obligations. Does the Taoiseach seriously not think these people deserve an apology from the State for its failure to vindicate their right to secure, affordable housing?
I acknowledge the Taoiseach's outlining of the action plan for mother and baby home survivors. We on the Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth have been working through a number of issues in this area, including improving the information and tracing legislation to deal with many of the concerns and issues of survivors of mother and baby homes and those who were adopted. I welcome the announcement of the new national centre on Seán MacDermott Street. I also welcome the Taoiseach's provision of more detail in this regard, including that the National Museum of Ireland and the National Archives of Ireland will have a strong role in it, which is very important for survivors.
Will he consider an apology on behalf of the State to another group that has long awaited such an apology or acknowledgement? I refer to the thalidomide survivors of Ireland. Last 26 November was the 60th anniversary of the international withdrawal of thalidomide, but this State has failed to offer any acknowledgement of the circumstances in which the drug was not withdrawn in Ireland at that point and continued to be prescribed after that date, with consequent harm caused to children. Having met with many members of the Irish Thalidomide Association, I am conscious of how anxious they are that their parents, many of whom are now very elderly, would receive a formal acknowledgement from the State as a matter of urgency. I have sought support from colleagues of all parties and Independent groupings for a cross-party motion expressing our co-ordinated and collegiate response as a parliamentary House to the concerns of thalidomide survivors. I have heard from Irish Thalidomide Association members on the need to support resumption of mediation between the association and health authorities to address their real and ongoing healthcare needs and ensure all outstanding issues can be resolved.
First, Deputy Tóibín raised the Grace case. That commission has completed its work and there have been interim reports. It is a shocking case and I want to await the outcome of the full, compete report. I have not seen the Alice report. From what the Deputy has just said to the House, it represents a shocking situation.
I will engage with the Deputy again on the issues and see what I can do in respect of meeting Alice and so on, if the Deputy feels it would be of assistance.
On the broader question, the establishment of a commission to examine the case of everybody abused in foster care would, in itself, be an enormous undertaking. One would have to give it very serious consideration before embarking on it. Commissions, as a model, take an extraordinary length of time to reach conclusions, and that remains the case. In this regard, I am referring to a number of commissions of investigation that are under way and that have been extended and extended, for different reasons. By its very nature, the matter in question would be a particularly difficult one because it does not pertain to institutions as such. It would take an enormous amount of, dare I say, fieldwork. One would have to consider the vast number of fostering cases down through the years. That is my initial response to that. While there are issues, that does not mean we should not examine issues.
I believe strongly that we have existing State agencies that should be the first resort in following through on allegations and abuse of the kind in question. One of the best things we did — I was involved in it at the time — was to set up HIQA, for example. It is an example of a body that exists to do the quality control, if you like, in this day and age to protect people right now and to improve standards in the areas under its remit. The establishment of commissions has become the first thing we resort to. It seems to be the fallback position to almost excuse existing agencies for not thoroughly doing the work they are legislatively charged to do. We have a range of bodies that should be getting to the bottom of these matters much faster and much more efficiently rather than having us raise them in the House, inevitably leading to a commission of inquiry that takes years to complete its work. It becomes even more difficult for all involved.
Homelessness is not entirely the fault of the State. It is more complex than that but the State has a responsibility to provide housing and give people shelter. It does have that obligation, in my view.
It is failing.
We support a referendum in that regard. It is important to note that we need more supply. Given the current crisis, not just in respect of housing but also in respect of immigration, including the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, which presents a big challenge to us all, I am still struck by the fact that, as a society, we take an inordinate amount of time to get projects through the planning system. Many groups feel they have the luxury of opposing significant housing projects.
Nonsense. Many planning permissions are granted.
Is it nonsense? I do not agree with the Deputy. I know I annoy people when I keep on saying that when we oppose projects with 1,100 units or 500 units-----
Fianna Fáil councillors opposed a project in Bray last night. The Taoiseach's own councillors are opposing social housing.
-----along with that, we still say there is a crisis. I did not mention Deputy Ó Broin at all but he interrupted. I am just saying that, generally, as a society-----
I am just informing the Taoiseach that his councillors opposed social housing in local authorities last night.
The Deputy's party is a serial objector. He knows that. That is just the bottom line.
That is absolutely not true. Look after your own councillors, Taoiseach.
Through the Chair.
The point is that we have a crisis in housing.
Because of Government policy.
The fallback position of the Deputy's party is to say everything is Government policy. It is more than just a question of the Government.
Are you saying the homeless are responsible for homelessness?
It is more than just the Government. The Deputy did not ask a question so I respectfully ask him to respect the norms of the House. I am answering Deputy Boyd Barrett-----
I do not think you are answering the question at all.
-----who did raise a question about homelessness.
You are misleading the House again on the issue of housing. Shame on you.
The Taoiseach should be allowed to conclude without interruption.
Family homelessness is down 34%. I am simply saying there are too many objections to too many housing projects.
Including by Fianna Fáil councillors in Bray last night.
It is about time people got real about the housing crisis.
Sort out your own councillors, Taoiseach. Shame on you.
I make no apology for saying that. The Deputy has form in this matter. I am making a general point because I believe we are in a housing crisis. Twenty thousand houses per year is not good enough. Covid was an issue last year. We want to get the number up but will not do so if we do not have more supply, get more planning permissions through and get the houses built in this country.
Zero council houses were built last year in Dún Laoghaire.
We need to do that. We are aiming to have 12,000 provided this year. Again, we have given the local authorities and approved social housing bodies the resources to build social houses.
On family homelessness and Housing First, we are 34% below the peak recorded in July 2018. However, we need to do much more. We want all children housed. That is my objective.
It is getting worse again.
We are not going to do that, however, if we do not ramp up housing supply. We need to prioritise what we want as politicians and as a society. People want more housing, particularly for younger people, who need access to affordable rent and affordable houses. We are not going to give them that access if we object collectively, and if various parties object at council level, to various projects. It is about prioritisation and realising and accepting the scale of the crisis and acting on it.
On thalidomide, which Deputy Bacik raised, I met the thalidomide group recently with its legal representative. There is a legal process involving the Government and the Irish Thalidomide Association. We will continue to reflect on this matter. Certain presentations were made at the meeting. Over the years, there has been a significant Government response. There was compensation at the time that people felt they were bounced into or pressurised into accepting, but I hear what the Deputy is saying and will continue to reflect on the matter.