Gerard P. Craughwell
Labour Panel · Independent · Ireland
“I omitted to formally congratulate the Leader yesterday on his elevation. I assume there will be bonfires all over Tipperary as he arrives home this weekend. I ask him to please forgive me for not officially congratulating him. I will say a few words at the start at our Presidency of the European Union.”
“It sends a confused and troubling message about hierarchy, authority, respect and the place of the Defence Forces within our nation's life. This matters.”
“The decision to have the Secretary General of the Department of Defence, a civil servant, however reputable, take the salute from newly commissioned officers before handing them their commission represents a deeply inappropriate blurring of roles. Let us be clear.”
“I say to the 64th naval cadet class in their achievement that they remain significant, their commitment remains admirable and their future responsibilities remain vital.”
“It is simply unacceptable that not one Minister or Minister of State of the 38 available was present to officiate at the commissioning of new officers into the Naval Service. I remind colleagues that this is not a minor diary clash or an administrative oversight; it is a profound signal of disregard for the State's most loyal servants.”
“It is an honour for me to extend my congratulations to the 64th naval cadet class on their commissioning into the Naval Service. Their commissioning should be a moment of unambiguous pride for them, their families and the State they have chosen to serve.”
The complete record
Every one of 631 lines we hold for Gerard P. Craughwell, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 13.
“Seriously, if we look at legal actions taken by citizens of this State dating back way before the Minister's time and, indeed, my time, there are examples of the State legal teams fighting legal cases that are unwinnable to the last moment. There are cases that we can draw back on where final settlements were made on the death bed of people who took the actions. We need to look at how all of that fits into corporate governance. I know the State is obliged to defend and look after the resources and money of the State and must defend any action that is brought against it but, surely to God, when they know it is an action that it will fail, they should stop and say, "No more. We will not fund something that has no chance of winning.”
“We have to trust individual Departments to do the job that they are entrusted to do. I brought these issues up. Over the past four years, I spoke in this House more often than I care to remember about the runaway lack of governance in the Department of Transport, particularly in relation to the Irish Coast Guard. Nothing has changed. I firmly believe we should have Deputy Chambers in finance, give him the two Departments and get it back to where it was. I am not so sure I would agree with my colleague that the Deputy should be there for life, but we would give him a couple of years anyway. That would be my view on it.”
“The report condemns the fact that €18 million was spent on buying vehicles. Let me put it this way. They had a particular vehicle. I will not put a name on the vehicle or anything else. The vehicle was found to be unsuitable for the work of the Coast Guard. A case was made, I am sure, to the Department of public expenditure, to replace the vehicles. The vehicles were replaced with exactly the same vehicle. They got rid of a vehicle and they purchased exactly the same one. If it was not good enough to do the job the first time around, how the hell did they buy it the second time? The Minister cannot be on top of that. I am pointing this out from the point of view of how difficult it is for the Department of public expenditure and reform to have its finger on every pulse in the country.”
“Everybody said - I said it for months before the contract was awarded - that it could not possibly deliver on the promise it was giving. It is an €800 million contract and we all know it will probably go to €1 billion or €1.5 billion by the time the ten years is up. The oversight of that contract is now a matter that will go before the Committee of Public Accounts and I sincerely hope we will get to the bottom of some of the shenanigans that took place. The Minister's officials cannot be on top of all of these issues. I am merely pointing out that when it comes to governance, the Minister would not have enough staff if he had 1,000 staff to keep an eye on what is going on. With the same group, the Irish Coast Guard, there was a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General about the purchase of vehicles.”
“I remember condemning it to hell when I was president of the Teachers Union of Ireland for having the audacity to cut the salaries of my colleagues but what was done was done to save this country and those in the Department were excellent people in a job at the time. As to whether I could say the same today, I do not think so. Secretly, I hate to tell the Minister's officials who are sitting behind him there that departmental people say to me it is all the fault of the Department of public expenditure and that it is the animal in the room that will allow them do nothing. Therefore, let us talk about value for money, which is one of the roles the Department has. Let us talk about the search and rescue contract that was awarded to Bristow. It was supposed to be up and running in July of this year.”
“How do I follow that wonderful piece of publicity for Fianna Fáil? My good God, it was amazing - a history lesson along with all of the compliments. This is the first time I have addressed the Minister since he took over the Department. Slightly off the subject, as director of elections for my former good friend, Jim Gavin, I wish the Minister well as he heads out into the hustings with a very fine former member of the Defence Forces, a man I was proud to have met many times. I really do wish him well. I am sorry that the campaign got off to such a toxic start but I believe Jim, Heather and Catherine will now get down to the work. In 2011-12, around about the time the Department was formed, it did great work. It saved this country at its worst times.”
“I have to pay €235 to get that vaccine. I am in a fortunate position in that, at the age I am, I have fewer responsibilities to my family and can afford €235 but people living on the old age pension cannot.”
“The last paragraph dealt with the fact that there is a technical group looking into the benefits of this vaccine. Why is it looking into it? Scotland, England and Wales have got it. If you are over 70, you get the vaccine. It is once every three years and you can get it up to the age of 80. It reduces the level of morbidity and the number of hospital beds used. The international evidence is clear. Why can we not just adopt the evidence from abroad and bring this in? I ask the Leader to raise this matter again through his party. It may be unfair to do that to him but I ask him to raise it in party rooms and ask whether we could just look at the international evidence and make the RSV vaccine available to those over 65. I do not want to get hit with RSV. It might not seem like it, but I am over 65. I do not want it.”
“I ask him to consider it over the coming days. He would have 100% of any support that I or any other Member of the House could give. Yesterday, my colleague Senator Ruane spoke about the absence of Ministers for Commencement matters. Yesterday, I raised a Commencement matter on the extremely important issue of the RSV vaccine for people over the age of 65. I am aware that the Minister has laid on the RSV vaccine for babies. Thousands of people die every year through RSV. The Department provided an answer for the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne. In fairness to him, all he could do was read out the answer he was given because he is not in that Department, as far as I am aware. I was talking about over-65s and the answer I got was about babies.”
“I will follow on from my colleague who spoke about social media. It has become an extremely toxic environment. We are all now used to the whipping-up of mass emails to us to support this, that or the other. The senders do not even do us the courtesy of referring to us by our names. They address us as "Dear Deputy" or "Dear Oireachtas Member". I am not a Deputy; I am a Senator and I am Gerard or you can call me Craughwell if you want. I throw the gauntlet down to the Cathaoirleach because he has done some pretty good work on public consultation. Our colleagues have said that perhaps we should get in the social media companies, because God knows it is impossible to contact them. Perhaps we should get them in here for a face-to-face meeting in the full glare of the public view. I think the Cathaoirleach is the one who can actually lead that.”
“We have to have a debate on 2013 pension so we can explore the detrimental impact it has had on these organisations. I wish Bridget Doody and Martin Groves well. They are tremendous people and were great support when they were here. Best of luck to Martin Hughes as he heads out and any time he needs a bit of advice he should give me a shout.”
“This means that a 24-hour shift becomes a 16-hour-and-30-minute shift. This is outrageous. There are employment laws in this country and Europe that state if people have to stay in a place for 24 hours they are paid for 24 hours. It is not as if the staff can wander home at some hour of the evening and be available at the house. They must stay in the designated area. I would like the Minister to come to the House to discuss this. Perhaps when he is here, we might look at how Bristow finished up getting the contract. I am delighted to see the Committee of Public Accounts has called Bristow before it. I have mentioned the post-2013 pension several times. It is detrimental to the emergency services of this country, including the Army, Garda, Prison Service and fire service.”
“It is not that difficult to change them every couple of weeks to keep them clean. Senator Fitzpatrick is dead right in what she said. The Tricolour is us. It is our nation and everything we stand for. Today I want to speak once again about search and rescue. Bristow was awarded the contract and it was supposed to be up and running throughout the country in July. As far as I am aware, it is not yet up and running. Now we see industrial relations issues coming down the line pretty quickly. Members of staff on 24-hour standby leave their families and live in either designated houses or hotels to be available 24 hours, for example, from 1 p.m. today until 1 p.m. tomorrow. Bristow has decided that from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. they should only be awarded 15 minutes pay for every hour.”
“I congratulate the interview board for the new Clerk of the Seanad because they made life very easy for me. I will just keep calling him Martin. I congratulate Martin Hughes and I am delighted to have him on board. If he is looking for an example of perfect discipline in the House, he should look towards me. He will see I obey all of the rules all of the time. The issue of the Tricolour was raised a few moments ago. As I was walking into the House this morning, I looked at the Tricolour that hangs over Leinster House. The Cathaoirleach should have a look at it himself later today because, to be honest, it looks a bit threadbare. We should rotate it fairly quickly. I also make the point that hotels and guesthouses have the Tricolour hanging outside their venues and the flags are filthy dirty.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the results regarding children. I hear that the take-up is not as good the Minister of State and the Department would like so, like him, I would encourage parents to get their babies immunised as quickly as possible. The last paragraph of the Minister of State's reply is the one that really counts for me. Among people over 65 years of age, an equal number, if not more, are being admitted to hospital with RSV and many of them die as a result of it. Let us hope that we get that research and advice from the Department as quickly as possible and see a roll-out for over 65s. I thank the Minister of State for his time and for delivering the results.”
“In conclusion, the introduction of RSV vaccine for Irish adults over 60 is a sound public health measure despite the upfront cost. The vaccine is of strong efficacy and safety and offers potential to prevent serious illness and complications, especially in those with underlying conditions. This makes it a worthwhile investment in protecting Ireland’s ageing population. In the UK, the RSV vaccine is now available for adults between the ages of 70 and 79 or 80; I think you can get it up to one day before your 80th birthday and it is free. I inquired the other day to get the vaccine myself. Having spoken to some people in Buswells, I am totally convinced that it is a worthwhile endeavour. It would cost €235 for me to get the vaccine myself. I am anxious to hear what the Department has given the Minister to say.”
“While direct costs offset from reduced hospitalisation are modest, at around €1 million, the broader benefits are substantial. These include fewer severe illnesses, reduced medical complications and improved quality of life. RSV also exacerbates chronic conditions and disrupts daily activities in older adults. Vaccination could ease the burden on the healthcare system and enhance patients’ well-being. International experience supports this, with the early data showing promising reductions in hospital admissions following the vaccine. Specifically, there is research from Scotland which is absolutely astounding in respect of the reduction in hospitalisation as a result of RSV, which we heard about last week in Buswells Hotel.”
“The rationale for introducing RSV vaccine for older adults is clear, to protect this high-risk population from serious lower respiratory tract infections. Clinical trials of the vaccine, like GSK's trials, have shown strong efficacy of over 80% overall and more than 90% in adults with comorbidity, alongside a favourable safety profile, with mostly mild and temporary side effects. From a cost-benefit perspective, the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, estimates that to vaccinate all adults aged 65 and over would cost approximately €146 million for the 2025-26 season. It is important to say that the vaccine has a three-term span, so that is once every three years. Targeting those aged 75 and over would cost around €76 million.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being in the House today. I think it is the first time I have addressed him since his elevation. I congratulate him. He was a great Senator when he was here and I am sure he is doing equally well as a Minister. Respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, is a common and highly contagious virus that affects the lungs and respiratory tract. While it can affect people of all ages, older adults, particularly those over 60, face a significantly higher risk of severe illness, hospitalisation and death. Across Ireland and Europe, RSV contributes to tens of thousands of hospitalisations and thousands of deaths annually in this age group. Adults with underlying health conditions such as COPD, asthma, diabetes and heart failure are especially vulnerable.”
“However, I ask the Minister to examine the rule stipulating a period of two years. Where a couple had broken up but there is empirical or verifiable evidence that they were trying to rekindle the relationship or get back together, we should be looking after the deceased person's family as best we can. Rather than ask somebody to go to the Supreme Court on it, we should consider on Committee Stage how we might achieve this. Once again, I thank the Minister for his time. I thank his officials for their work because they are the people who put this together.”
“I have no difficulty with the State throwing everything it possibly can at somebody who takes a case against it maliciously, but we are talking about people in crisis. Down through the years, there have been cases of people on their death beds with cancer who had Government officials dealing with them to solve claims. We should never get to that state. I have not bothered reading my speech here because I actually support what the Minister is doing. What he has done is really noble. Sure, when we come to Committee Stage, there will probably be amendments and we may have an argument or two about them, but the Minister has acted quickly. I commend him for that and I commend his officials for putting together legislation that will mean an unfortunate person whose partner has passed away will not be destitute.”
“It is not a gift from the State; it is something that has been bought and paid for. That is the whole purpose behind the social welfare system. There are many anomalies within the social welfare system that I could discuss but I will not do so. However, let me refer to the one thing I do know. In any case, as when we took the county councillors' class K case some years ago, one has to go the whole way to the courts. When we arrived at the court for the class K case, we settled it and class S came in for county councils. I am aware that the Cabinet is busy. I ask that we try to have a subcommittee of the Cabinet examine how we deal with citizens of the State who find themselves in conflict.”
“At the very end, when the Supreme Court made its judgment, it provided political cover for the Minister, even if the Minister did not know about it. Under the Ministers and Secretaries Act, if a civil servant writes something in a Minister's name, it is the Minister who is deemed to have written it. It does not matter whether he knows about it. That is the nature of the world. I was once told by a senior official that he used his name as Gaeilge for official correspondence. I asked him why and he said he never knew when he would have to write to a next-door neighbour. The bottom line is that we can hide behind the rule book but we really need to change. Consider the issue I raised regarding the widow's pension: an individual hits 66 years of age and suddenly cannot have the widow's pension, which the deceased person paid for.”
“When the Minister is informed, the first question should be on how we can resolve the matter to the benefit of the citizen of the State rather than on how to build a wall so high that the average citizen will never be able to climb it. I get lots of stick, as the Minister does, and people say many things about useless Governments. Today, it is Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and tomorrow it will be other parties in government – it does not matter – but, ultimately, nobody comes in here to deliberately block citizens of the country. Nobody works in any Civil Service office in this country deliberately setting out to block people. However, we operate under a rule book and the rule in the State Claims Agency is to defend to the death. That is what it did against the family in question. It held them to the very last.”
“To get back to where I was, there are anomalies in the system. Much of what I wanted to say has already been delivered by the Minister in his own speech, so I will not go into the historical background of John's case. However, there are anomalies in the system. We are very privileged in this country to have the civil servants we have working in Departments. I firmly believe there is no civil servant who goes out of his or her way to block people or payments. Legislation is civil servants' rule book and they have to live by it. However, the State Claims Agency, which manages things that go wrong, takes off the gloves and fights bare-knuckled with people who are in the most horrendous state of their lives. We have got to find a way to inform a Minister immediately when cases like the one in question arise.”
“They would find themselves in a situation of being in a relationship that probably would have cemented and re-established itself again and any children would have benefited from the joint income arrangements of the relationship. It is possibly a moot point, but people die, relationships break down, get repaired and people come back together again. Are we going to force some unfortunate woman or man into the courts to prove they were in the process of rebuilding the relationship? I am fully aware that there is a possibility that this would be exploited.”
“Earlier, the Minister said: This section also sets out where a spouse or civil partner whose relationship has broken down for more than two years shall not be considered a bereaved partner for the purposes of the Act. We live in troubled times. Relationships break down. There are many examples of a relationship breaking down but the partners do their best to try to make a family life for their family. They are living apart and trying to work through whatever differences they have. At some stage, they come to the decision that they should try to get back together and make it work. They might have been apart for three years, attending marriage or relationship counselling in order to get back into a relationship but a month before they were due to move in together, one or the other dies. They would not qualify under this provision.”
“That is another anomaly that will one day have to find itself in the Supreme Court. A relation of mine struggled hard all her life to educate her kids after her husband died. The moment she turned 66, bang, the widow's pension was gone, which left her in hardship. Her income suddenly and completely collapsed. That is something we have to look at. As Senator Rabbitte said, John O'Meara - what a man. His wonderful partner would have made sure her payments were up to date and everything else. The law as it stood under section 124 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 required a bereaved partner to be a legal widow, widower or surviving civil partner. I see another Supreme Court case coming on the legislation the Minister has brought before us today.”
“There is only one instance of which I am aware where a person can receive two social welfare payments. A person can receive disablement and disability payments together, as far as I am aware. I am not aware of any other circumstance where a person can have two payments. I ask the Minister to consider a young widow or widower who loses a partner early in life and is granted the widow or widower's pension. He or she has a job as well. The moment he or she comes to retirement age and qualifies for the contributory pension, his or her partner's pension is lost. If I had been paying social welfare all my life and I die, I have paid for what I am getting. It is not a gift from the State. I paid for it. My wife is entitled to her widow's pension and to whatever she paid for as well.”
“I welcome the Minister to the House. This is the first time I have addressed him in his current role. I congratulate him on his position. Before I get into reading my notes, one of the questions that crosses my mind when I come across a case like John O'Meara's is why the State forces a family to go the whole way to a Supreme Court judgment in order to fix something that was morally wrong in the first instance. I know it is not the Minister's fault or the fault of his officials; it is the way the system works. The State has deep pockets and could keep a family in the courts forever if it wanted to do that. It is grossly unfair. That man had to go through so much, having lost his partner, just to look after his children. It brings to mind another issue.”
“I must also say that I am delighted the Minister is bringing forward provisions in this Bill in the area of social media. It is time we tackled the keyboard warriors and those who feel they can say anything they want about anybody they want to and get away with it. In some cases, they feel in some way safe by not naming an individual, but they say enough to identify the individual in question. I am, therefore, delighted the Minister has brought these elements forward and I hope to see the Bill pass on this basis. I will leave it at that. I thank the Minister for his time.”
“It fails to meet the threshold of reform required by the European Court of Human Rights, risking reputational damage to Ireland and possible enforcement proceedings by the European Commission. It is never too late to do the right thing. If the Bill cannot be amended, it should be opposed. This is the view of ISME. It is not just the view of that association. Several civil society groups have also emailed me in recent days concerning this legislation. I have represented their views to the Minister. From a personal perspective, I fully support my colleague, Senator McDowell, with respect to jury cases. I would rather be judged by 12 of my peers than by a judge forced to make a decision as to whether he or she believes that I or a particular plaintiff or defendant in a case has lied. I think it is asking a lot of one individual.”
“-----which benefits from maintaining Ireland's astronomical levels of defamation litigation. Even as claims fell to 289 cases in 2024, this remains higher than the 250 cases in England, as already pointed out. There is no judicial justification for this disparity. The Courts Service's annual report only scratches the surface. Defamation actions generate an estimated €30 million to €50 million in fees each year for a small group of lawyers. By the way, I do not object to people making a living. I am representing the views of ISME here. There is no justice in this bad law. The Bill is opposed by a wide circle of civil society groups, journalists and media and legal academics.”
“There is no protection for comedic or satiric content and no moral hazard for plaintiffs, meaning there is little to deter vexatious claims. It is unfair for the Minister to suggest that businesses should fight retail defamation actions when insurers have subjugated rights and our courts permit appeals without any constraints on the payments of defendants' costs. Let us be clear that this Bill is a sop to the legal industry - this is ISME speaking, not me, I have to say-----”
“Without limits, the risk of exorbitant awards will only serve to chill free speech and encourage legal threats rather than genuine redress. Third, the promise of transient retail defamation tests has been removed and replaced with a qualified privilege. This change will increase legal fees for retailers without offering them any meaningful protection. Furthermore, the Bill's anti-SLAPP protections are woefully inadequate and do not meet the standards set by the EU anti-SLAPP directive, which Ireland must implement by May 2026. As a result, victims of sexual assault and rape may still be threatened by perpetrators with defamation actions, silencing their voices. The Bill also removes the promised improvements to section 26, which would have protected fair and reasonable publication.”
“I welcome the Minister to the House. This is the first time I have addressed him since his elevation. I congratulate him on his new post and I think he is doing a fine job where he is. I rise today to speak on behalf of ISME. My lovely speech has been ruined because several people have already adverted to ISME's critique of the Bill. Nonetheless, I feel obliged to put the association's concerns on the record. The first thing raised with me is the no-harm test. This means individuals who have not actually suffered any damage to their reputation can still sue for damages. This opens the door to frivolous and costly litigation, undermining the very purpose of the defamation law. Second, ISME pointed out there is no cap on general damages.”
“That was the cry the Israelis had about the Palestinians, that they were firing rockets indiscriminately, and then they went and flattened the place. The same is happening in Ukraine and we need to put that back on the map.”
“Yesterday, it was sickening to watch Donald Trump warmly welcome a war criminal into the White House, and wine him and dine him and look after him. There is nothing between Putin and Netanyahu. The two of them are committing war crimes daily. Due to the horrific scenes we get from Gaza, Ukraine has dropped off the agenda and what is happening there has become normalised. I ask colleagues to look to Ukraine. It does not matter where people are being murdered. They are being murdered and we should speak out and speak against what is happening and those who would commit such horrendous crimes. I cannot imagine what it must be like to go to bed at night in Kyiv, not knowing if a rocket is going to come through the window of your accommodation block.”
“Today is the first opportunity I have had to stand in solidarity with the Bosnia-Herzegovina Association of Ireland to commemorate the genocide at Srebrenica, the 30th anniversary of which passed on 29 June. In making that statement, I want to recognise what has become for me the normalisation of the war in Ukraine. Ukraine has slipped down the agenda and is not seen as the genocide that Gaza is, yet there is a significant level of destruction of public buildings in Ukraine. The difference is that in Ukraine the destruction is distributed over a wide geographic area, whereas in Gaza it is concentrated in a central area. In the wars going on in this world at the moment, genocide is being accepted by everybody.”
“In another hospital, which is taking security seriously, they took the password, which was taped on to the side of the monitor, and put it under the keyboard. Does anybody take any notice of what it will cost this country if we get hit again? The HSE has cost this country tens of millions of euro. Not only that but there is a strong belief that lives were lost as a result of what happened in the HSE, and there is definitely anecdotal and empirical evidence to show that the appointment system in clinics and the like was pushed out something terrible. We have to wake up to cybersecurity in this country, and do it quickly.”
“That was pooh-poohed at the time as I and others were accused of being overly dramatic about the danger we placed our special services personnel in. Those who read the story will see exactly what danger they were put in and the thugs they were going to arrest. Thank God, they have all now been put in jail. I understand there is some difficulty in getting rid of the MV Matthew . There is a party interested in buying it but the cost is about €10 million. It is important to get rid of it. On a separate issue in security, as Members will recall, the HSE experienced a ransomware attack that cost this country millions. In one particular ward, up on the whiteboard was the username and password for the computer.”
“Some great stories have been told in the past few days about the capture of the MV Matthew and the drugs haul in 2023. What a fantastic story it is. If anybody has not read it, please go to The Journal and read Niall O’Connor’s description of the capture of that ship. We pulled together the agencies of the State, namely, the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners and the Defence Forces. The time and effort that went into the capture of that ship are simply unbelievable. The story is online and people should read it. The key issue is that the Army Ranger Wing went to take that ship with only one helicopter. Anybody who knows anything about military service knows that while a fast-roping operation is taking place, there should be a second aircraft with snipers on board covering those who are fast-roping onto the ship.”
“It was €30 million worth, nonetheless. It is wonderful to see how the security services can work together to stop gun runners and drug runners. The sad thing is that we do not have sufficient naval cover to cover the entire coast.”
“I also want to remark on the tremendous work done by our security services, whether in the Garda, Customs and Excise, Naval Service or Air Corps, in arresting drug runners in County Kerry. I am sorry, I think it was Cork. Cork or Kerry, what is the difference?”
“The weekend of 12 and 13 July is a weekend of commemoration and remembrance. The Royal British Legion's annual event at Islandbridge takes place on 12 July and the Irish commemoration takes place on Sunday, 13 July. As president of the Connaught Rangers Association and a former member of the Royal Irish Rangers, I will be there. I encourage people to be there. As a nation, we have grown up, and we have started to commemorate our fallen. Several thousand of our countrymen died during the First World War and Second World War. I recently had a visit from representatives of the Korean War cemetery, where several members of the Royal Ulster Rifles lie since the Korean War. It is important that we remember Irishmen who died in the name of peace.”
“Unlike many Bills that have come to this House where the Minister appears for a few minutes and a junior Minister comes and takes over from there, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has been with us every step of the way. Her empathy was obvious right throughout the Bill. I know she is constrained by what her Department can and cannot do but I commend her on what she did and on having been here, and I thank her.”
“Every year we bury more and more, until well just be a search on google or an artefact in a 300 million euro museum on Sean Mc Dermot street, were people can come and say wasnt that terrible till were no more just a memory written by survivor Sheila O Byrne. The Minister knows, I know and everybody in this room knows Sheila has been outside the gate of Leinster House for many years. I commend her on putting her thoughts on paper. They are not my words; they are her words from the heart. Having listened to my colleague Senator Victor Boyhan today and having listened to these ladies, it would draw the heart and soul out of you. I want to say this before I take my seat.”
“Many forced to still work to support themselves, despite being broken mentally and physically, many living in homes not fit for purpose many unable to meet there own daily needs, some survivors are left with responsibility of caring for their siblings who were in industrial institutions isolated unable to complete simple tasks such as visiting the doctor, hospital appointments and even shopping Solicitors were complicit and some of their offices are still open to this day we are still here we are not a number on a spreadsheet, a statistic is it to much to ask that were listened to, not plamaused, that we can live out the reminder of our years in dignity and comfort.”
“These are her words, not mine: I Sheila O Byrne, who is an Institutional Church and State Survivor Mother, incarcerated in Mother and Baby institution I am writing this letter as I have supported institutional industrial survivors, the traveling community in the system many years, I listened individually to the horrific drama and treatment of abuse by the hands of the church and state they were children taken brought to court by the hands of the cruelty man award of court little children not knowing why taken, placed in church and state system taken by the cruelty man, branded as criminals little children brought and locked away into a system no compassion abused by the hands of the powers to be inside the walls controlled inhumanly little children treated lesser than less never allowed to speak out, some of the children were taken because their mother died not allowed be looked after by their own family sisters and brothers taken away brought separated in to different institutions little children age of innocence interfered with by the hands of the cloth and lay people in their care for years up to sixteen years eighteen years when released no accommodation no money given only clothing, other children their mothers had mental break downs and put in to mental asylums abused, sexually in the care by the church and state also lay people, under their care took advantage medical profession ignored the abuse mothers taken trafficked in to the mother and baby institutional system after giving birth babies taken adopted against the mothers will no other choice given church and state lay down a law sentenced for the terrible crime for breaking the original sin no matter what situation the mothers were in god him self would not have created a law invented by the church and state church of Ireland played its role same system we have to remember babies little children mothers who didn't survive from behind the walls buried in unmarked graves all over Ireland very few survivors who died in the hands of church and state acknowledged in death buried in sacred grounds also whom died in the asylums acknowledged in death, I am proud to be a voice for the survivors of the industrial institutions for our living and our dead as we are all connected I would add the funding of millions was given to survivors under a gagging system a code of silence instructed to each industrial survivor empowered on to children now grown up signed their voice taken of the horrific justice inflicted horrendously hiding the truths covering up the terrible wrongs protecting church and state who are the criminals whom should be brought to justice now in this present time there is 50 thousand left that was awarded to industrial institutional survivors who are crying out for help with needs of resourses housing health medical needs and medical card mental health which are not being given for the purpose to fecilitate each survivors needs which they truly deserve and are being ignored these are the children who were not cared by the church or the state it’s the Governments responsibility and duty as in the Irish Constitution its written all children will be sheltered and cared for up to the present day this year 2025 unfortunately institutional survivors who were children are still not looked after with the means they require if all is not bad enough, when we ask for support and help from these state funded agencies and advocates we are turned away time and time again and excuses made, not enough funding and not enough staff elderly men and women are offered silly courses and told about waiting lists for limited councilling services, one excuse after the other doors shut in our faces.”
“There is a lot I would like to say but as my colleague, Senator Victor Boyhan, pointed out in his various contributions during the passage of the Bill, we are here to give voice to the voiceless. With the permission of the Cathaoirleach, I have been granted permission to read a letter from Sheila O'Byrne into the record of the Seanad.”