Shane Curley
Cultural and Educational Panel · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I congratulate the Acting Leader in his role as Whip. I wish Galway the very best of luck in the All-Ireland hurling final. I know everyone in the room agrees it would be great to see Liam MacCarthy go west. Best of luck to Micheál Donoghue and the lads on Sunday. We will all be there shouting them on, if we can get a ticket.”
“There are modules in special educational needs in the PME, but there is no mandatory follow-up after that. As we all know, special educational needs involve ongoing upskilling and awareness and we are constantly figuring out more about them. We will never have enough knowledge and will be researching it for eternity.”
“In some cases, teachers have to travel many kilometres to the nearest training day. It does not make any sense. I would welcome a debate in the House with the Minister on instructing Oide or some other body to carry out regular mandatory training in special educational needs for all teachers.”
“I would also like to welcome former Senator Ned O'Sullivan who I see in the Gallery as well. He is very welcome. Tá fáilte roimhe. It is high time, in the next few months if at all possible; this side of Christmas in particular, to have a debate in the House with the Minister to urgently address the issue of extra time in exams for studen…”
“CGMs allow patients and clinicians to monitor glucose levels in real time, improving diabetes management and giving many patients greater confidence in managing their condition.”
“In Ireland, you get ten minutes even if the exam lasts three hours and 40 minutes in the case of the likes of English paper 2. In third level in Ireland, the lecturers who are currently carrying out a review on the process that was undertaken by the SEC give ten minutes per hour of an exam to their students.”
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“Ar dtús, guím gach rath ar Martin agus Bridget agus iad ag éirí as a bpoist. Best of luck to Martin Hughes in his new role. Yesterday, I visited Carrabane National School outside Loughrea in County Galway. The school has been waiting 20 years for a new school building and it cannot wait any longer. It is a dangerous situation. The floors are collapsing in many of the eight prefabs. The roof in one of the classrooms has fallen in. Thankfully, this happened during the summer holidays when the kids were not there. God forbid what would have happened if they were. The school is situated on an 80 km/h regional road with zero parking facilities. The school also has serious sewerage and electrical issues. The school has a proud history of inclusive education in Carrabane.”
“There are still survivors who have never come forward and who carry their stories in silence. To them I say; you matter too, you are believed and you are not alone. Today, we honour the bravery of those who spoke out, demanded action and who never gave up. This commission of investigation is a vital step forward for justice but it cannot be the last step. It must lead to real accountability, proper redress, meaningful commemoration and a future where our education system protects and builds up every child and upholds the dignity of every human being.”
“That comes from that desire to make sure it never happens again. That distrust and general scepticism towards teachers from some people who have every right to feel that way is a lasting legacy of our education system. I also support the recommendations regarding commemoration and memorialisation. Survivors have asked their experience not be hidden away in archives or reports but remembered openly. Memorials, education materials and public acknowledgements are essential tools of healing. This commission is not a box-ticking exercise. It is not about avoiding difficult truths. It is about shining a light on what happened, why it was allowed to happen and what we must now do to ensure it never happens again. There are still survivors waiting for answers.”
“They want a clear message that this State will not just listen and apologise but act. That is why I believe it is right that all possible funding levers are examined in parallel with the commission's work. Redress must not be delayed. We must ensure this process does not become bogged down in bureaucracy or drawn-out legal wrangling. Time is not on the side of many of the survivors. Equally important is the State's commitment to continue development of child protection. While the scoping inquiry found our current systems to be robust, we cannot afford complacency. Safeguarding must remain a living practice in our schools. Survivors told the inquiry their greatest hope is that no child ever endures what they did. That must be our priority. My own experience as a teacher was that some parents treated teachers with suspicion and scepticism.”
“As Fianna Fáíl's Seanad spokesperson on education, I know the damage caused by abuse in schools runs deep; emotionally, psychologically and socially. It affects not only the individuals but their entire families, communities and generations. Many of the schools implicated were not hidden or remote institutions. They were part of the fabric of Irish life. They were schools in every town and every county. This was not some distant tragedy. It is our collective history and we must confront it honestly. I welcome the Government's commitment to examining financial redress. For many survivors, financial compensation is not about money. It is about recognition and accountability. They want those responsible for running the schools where abuse occurred to contribute to redress.”
“Their testimonies helped shaped the terms of reference for the commission and it is their instance on truth and accountability that has brought us to this point. I want to pay tribute to every survivor who spoke up. Their advocacy was instrumental in making this commission a reality. The commission will now begin its preliminary work. It will include a survivor engagement programme, something that is both welcome and necessary. Survivors must not be sidelined in this process - they must be at the centre. It is their experience, their questions and their right to the truth that must guide this work. I am confident that Mr. Justice MacGrath, with his judicial experience and commitment to public service, will carry out this role with the independence and compassion that survivors deserve.”
“We now know that more than 2,300 allegations were made, involving 884 alleged abusers across 308 schools between 1927 and 2013. It is hard to comprehend the scale of harm done - not only the physical and sexual abuse, but the trauma too; the mental scars that haunt people for the rest of their lives from the damage done to them by those who should have been building them up and equipping them with the social and academic skills to live a fulfilling life and the trauma of not being believed and being told to keep your mouth shut. The survivors who came forward have shown extraordinary courage. They were failed once by the institutions and by the State but we must not fail them again. Their voices informed the scoping inquiry's findings.”
“Today's announcement by the Minister of a commission of investigation into the handling of historical sexual abuse in all day and boarding schools marks a significant moment for our State. Fianna Fáil fully supports the establishment of this commission, which will be chaired by Mr. Justice Michael MacGrath. We welcome the Government's decision to accept in full the primary recommendations of the scoping inquiry. This commission will have the authority and independence required to examine how allegations, suspicions and concerns of abuse were handled in Irish schools. Importantly, it will look not only at boarding schools but also day schools and will include both primary and post-primary sectors. The revelations from the scoping inquiry were devastating.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a bheith sa Teach seo inniu. This afternoon's discussion centres around possibly the most sinister acts of evil that were ever carried out on this island; preying physically and sexually on vulnerable children who had their innocence stolen from them and, in many cases, the rest of their lives destroyed. I am conscious of the words of Senator Boyhan in our previous discussion on the industrial and reformatory schools that we remember not every teacher and member of the clergy is or was an inherently bad person. Many of them make a real impact in their communities and are genuinely good people. That said, the dark actions of some leave a lasting legacy of damage and hurt that we must address.”
“In our briefing earlier we were told that if one particular post office in the Minister of State's constituency closed, it would be a 34 kilometre trip to the nearest access to a cash point. That just brings the issue into perspective. An Post is doing its part. It is developing new services, such as An Post Money, and it is rolling out a greener fleet, but it cannot carry this burden alone. The sustainability of the network must be a shared national priority. We need to look at increasing the €10 million to €15 million as part of the package.”
“For the sake of the extra €5 million, the massive benefits to our rural communities cannot be overstated. The transformation of the network must go beyond survival. It must be about ambition and long-term solutions. Access to cash in rural areas is vital to many people. The decline in the banking presence across rural Ireland is no secret. The exits of KBC and Ulster Bank have left massive gaps. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for An Post to step in. We already have the backbone of this as An Post has the largest retail network in the country. It has an IT infrastructure capable of national interconnectivity. It has a trusted reputation, especially among those who are vulnerable and struggle with digital literacy. That is a hugely important fact. What will it take to fully realise this potential?”
“It generates vital income for small coffee shops, restaurants, pubs and many other SMEs across rural Ireland, not to mention the mental health benefits of mingling with friends while doing business in the post office. As the postmasters' union has said, this funding is not a handout, it is an investment in our communities. I am pleased to see the Government recognises this. I welcome that the Government has committed €10 million over a three-year period in direct support to An Post to stabilise the network and allow time for reform and innovation. However, the discussion this evening primarily revolves around funding, and a detailed breakdown of the need to increase this figure to €15 million has been provided by the postmasters' union. We need to revisit and reconsider this.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a bheith anseo anocht don ábhar thar a bheith tábhachtach seo, go háirithe in áiteanna iargúlta timpeall na tíre. I thank the Irish Postmasters' Union, whose representatives gave us a detailed and passionate presentation earlier. I want to pay tribute to Sinead and Peter, in particular, who are from my own county in Galway. Their front-line perspective after years of rising pressure and change is crucial as we chart the future of our post office network. The post office is more than just a place to post a letter or collect a payment. It is the cornerstone of community life in towns and villages right across rural Ireland. The post office brings people into the centres of our towns and villages.”
“I want to acknowledge the ladies in the Public Gallery: Mary Dunlevy Greene, Mary Donovan, Mary Smith, Sheila O’Byrne and, I believe, Miriam Moriarty Owens. As a teacher, I should be better with names. In relation to amendment No. 6, does the second amendment we agreed today - the Minister's own amendment - not cover a lot of the stuff that is being requested in amendment No. 6? Could we have a quick clarification on that? That was amendment No. 2.”
“As a State, given the precedent set with the Magdalen laundries, we must try to push on with it, although I accept that it cannot be dealt with today.”
“We can come up with a motion to devise a scheme that would allow for it. The costings I did indicate that it would cost the Exchequer €8 million per year to enhance pensions for survivors to the level of a contributory pension. As a taxpayer, I am happy to see the tax I pay allocated for that purpose. I would like to work with the Minister on that in the future. I understand it cannot be dealt with today. Today's Bill is not the finished article, it is a start. I hope we can work collegially as a Chamber to try and ensure this happens in the future. Today is not the end of it. There is documentary evidence that these people did get boarded out and many of them were in horrific conditions and subjected to slave labour.”
“What I am about to raise is somewhat relevant to the Minister's brief but it also relates to the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in the Department of public expenditure and reform. It relates to Senator Stephenson's amendment No. 9 on the contributory pension. I spoke to a group earlier, whom I acknowledge. I thank them for meeting with me in Buswells. We had a good conversation. I hope we have many such meetings in the coming months and years. The amendment has been ruled out of order in the current circumstances. As Senator Boyhan says, it is retraumatising for people who, in many instances, engaged in slave labour, when they are not made to feel believed. I communicated with the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and his Department. It has been conveyed to me that we do not necessarily have to legislate for a contributory pension.”
“It simply gives the student extra time to write down what he or she already knows and has in his or her brain. It is a no-brainer. I thank the Minister of State for his time.”
“I am not trying to be facetious, but the fourth last paragraph was a beautiful exposé of how obsessed we actually are with time limits in State exams. I welcome the fact that a broader review is taking place and that this will be taken into account. I stress to the Minister of State that zero additional time is allocated right now to students with dyslexia, who, in many cases, have a reader with them in the exam. The reader cannot explain anything or interpret the text for the student and is simply there to read the exam for them. I have been a reader, not during the State exams but in special centres during mock exams. I know it adds time to what is needed in order to actually get the student to a stage where he or she can answer the question. Additional time is not an advantage and it does not disadvantage any other student.”
“That is a really positive step that could be taken. When the RACE concept in general was given back to schools and a lot of the priority and power was given to schools to have assessments at school level, it really changed the game. Schools know their students best; they really do. They deal with them daily, see the needs of each student and can tailor their reasonable accommodations to each student's needs. Giving it to the school and giving a school-based assessment the priority would also avoid the whole idea of reasonable accommodations becoming the preserve of those who can afford private psychological assessments. It is really important that it would be an equal concept. I thank the Minister of State for his time and gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Crowe.”
“If you take it that memory and understanding and memorising huge reams of text to regurgitate them on paper only to forget about it for the rest of your life afterwards are basically what the leaving certificate is, and I have seen that as a teacher, then it definitely was not designed for students with dyslexia. All that said, I welcome that there is a RACE review about to be undertaken, which means that Senator Crowe's Commencement matter today is very timely. I have been speaking to special needs co-ordinators in schools, particularly in my own school back home that I used to teach in, Presentation College Athenry. The one thing that was reinforced to me was that, if we are going to explore the concept of additional time for students with dyslexia, let it be on a school-based assessment.”
“I thank Senator Crowe for raising this. I was a secondary school teacher before I came was elected to the House and the one thing I never really understood in the Irish education system in general was the obsession we have with time limits in exams. That is the kind of concept Senator Crowe is focusing on today - the time we allow students with dyslexia. We were all fed clichés as students that the leaving certificate is an opportunity to show off what we know, not a test of what we do not know, etc., and that is nonsense. Bloom's taxonomy, probably the most recognised hierarchy of intelligences, would suggest that memory and understanding - the entire tenets of the leaving certificate - are 90-95% of what you do in your leaving certificate exams. The leaving certificate was definitely not designed with dyslexia in mind.”
“Maidir le cúram leanaí agus an Ghaeilge mar theanga, níl ionad cúram leanaí lán-Ghaeilge amháin in Éirinn taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht sna 26 chontae, ach tá trí cinn i mBéal Feirste. Más féidir, tá géarghá le hinfheistíocht san earnáil cúram leanaí sna blianta atá romhainn. Mar fhocal scoir, if we want our young people to set down roots and invest in the midlands and the north west, we need to make sure that we have a rebalancing of investment in that area.”
“However, there are a few constructive suggestions I would like to bring to the table. For example, we have 17.6% of the population of Ireland in the midlands and the north west, yet when it comes to tenders of €1 million, we have enjoyed just 9.9% of them since 2016, and just 5.7% of those in excess of €20 million. There is a need for a small rebalancing there. The Minister engages in good work in the Department, but I would like to see a bit of rebalancing in that Department, particularly in projects like the western rail corridor and the east Galway main drainage scheme, which has been a huge inhibitor to the development housing over recent years. That is something I would like to see developed as time goes on.”
“Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire as bheith anseo inniu don díospóireacht thar a bheith tábhachtach seo. Before I move on, I wish to note a couple of things I picked up from the previous contributors. First, with great respect, there was a suggestion made by Senator Ryan that we engage in a betrayal of our national identity with a lack of investment in the Irish language. I am a living, breathing example of the exact opposite. My parents do not have a word of Irish but I am fluent because of the investment in Gaeltacht areas. I wish to contradict what was said. As a councillor, I have seen huge investment in my own local town of Loughrea through the RRDF funding for projects like the town hall. This has ensured the vital sustainability of rural Ireland such as my own local town.”
“While we have made huge strides in delivering a world-class education system and we have a track record that we can, in the main, be very proud of, we must ensure it is delivered in an inclusive way and no region in rural Ireland is left behind.”
“That is hugely welcome and we are going in the right direction. However, world-class education should not be the luxury of neurotypical students in any rural town and we must ensure the roll-out of special classes around the country involves regional balance. My local town of Loughrea, with a population approaching 7,000 people, does not have a single SEN classroom at second level in the entire town. This should not be the case in 2025. We need to drastically improve services for students with SEN in our schools. I do not think it is a coincidence that Ireland has the lowest levels of employment for people with disabilities when stark facts, such as the plight of students with SEN in Loughrea, are considered. Rural towns like Loughrea should not be forgotten when it comes to SEN.”
“Not only does this drive up prices but it contradicts every concept of green procurement, where a small number of companies clock up thousand of kilometres per week, subsequently driving up carbon emissions. We must cut through and drastically reduce red tape if we want to have a world-class education system to modernise and provide these resources. Driving small, local suppliers out of the market by insisting on needless red tape prevents progress. Just last week, my own local bookstore actually closed, so I have a local anecdotal example to give. I strongly welcome the fact that, this year, the Department of education will spend in excess of €2.9 billion, or a quarter of the Department's budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs.”
“There are, however, many barriers to delivering capital schools projects in a timely fashion in Ireland. The national public procurement tender threshold is just €50,000 in contrast to the European Union norm of €143,000. What does this mean? For small, local suppliers, not only must they dedicate long hours to tender documents and processes but they must also have €6.5 million public liability insurance, €12.7 million employer liability insurance and €6.5 million product liability insurance. The result of this bureaucracy is a small number of huge companies have a monopoly over the supply of school meals, school equipment and school books.”
“It is worth noting this is not intended to replace teachers in the classroom. Even the founder of Khanmigo has been at pains to stress this. A pilot project, with schools volunteering to take part, would lead to the conclusion that this is an example of AI being used as a tool for good and to bring education to a world-class standard in classrooms all over Ireland. From a budgetary point of view, if this were to be rolled out nationally, based on the 2024 budget for the Department of education, which was €10.467 billion, this €13 million investment would account for just 0.12% of last year's budget. It costs €15 per head, per year, academically. It goes without saying that if we want a world-class education system, we need world-class facilities in which to deliver it.”
“When I studied to be a secondary school teacher and was doing the PME, one of the most prominent buzzwords from our lecturers was the word "facilitator", where the dream was that the teacher was a facilitator of active learning. However, the dogs on the street know this is impossible in the current system in Ireland. Instead of facilitating learning, teachers in Irish classrooms force-feed information with a view to it being spat back out on a leaving cert exam paper. Khanmigo is shovel ready to allow teachers to genuinely teach and facilitate learning. It allows them to actively roam the classroom and to guide and problem solve with students in real time while the AI tool does the teaching itself on the board. This allows for a drastically improved level of comprehension of the subject matter being discussed.”
“It is becoming clearer that if we want a world-class, modern education system, we need to modernise and embrace what technology can do to lighten the workload of teachers. The Department of Education needs to look at the highly successful roll-out of Khanmigo in American high schools. Khanmigo is an AI tool that prepares lesson plans, curates content and corrects exams with frighteningly high levels of sophistication and adaptability, allowing teachers to focus on the real job - teaching. On the student side, Khanmigo does not just give the answers. With infinite patience, it guides learners to find the answers themselves. This has revolutionised the classroom environment in America, with entire states adopting the technology.”
“Classrooms should be places of real and active learning, where students learn and teachers teach properly. However, the workload that teachers are dealing with leaves them worn out because a large portion of the working week is spent lesson planning and correcting to give timely feedback to students. This creates an environment in which teachers enter the classroom exhausted, constantly stretched and at the end of their tether. I know this because I have sat in staffrooms with teachers who are constantly pressed to the pins of their collars. The result is that they are far from their best when they enter the classroom to give students the best possible learning experience.”
“Fáiltím roimh an díospóireacht seo inniu agus táim buíoch go bhfuil deis agam labhairt ar an ábhar rí-thábhachtach seo. Mar a luaigh Seanadóir Conway, is múinteoir meánscoile mé agus aontaím go bhfuil géarghá le hinfheistíocht sa chóras oideachais i mbealach a thugann deis dúinn bheith ar aon-chaighdeán leis na córais is fearr ar domhan. I am proud to be a member of a party, Fianna Fáil, that has a proud track record in education. From the pioneering work of the former Minister, Donogh O'Malley, in introducing free second level education in 1966, which meant people like my parents could access second level education, to the work of the former Minister, Noel Treacy, my local TD at the time, who invented science week in the early 2000s, my party has a proud record in education.”
“One of the major issues we have, and I would like the Minister to come to the House to discuss it, is that only towns with populations of 10,000 or more are entitled to Government funding for swimming pools under the national planning framework. That needs to be changed. We have a lake in Loughrea. Unfortunately, over the years, there have been tragic drownings there. Any town in Ireland the size of Loughrea, whose population is approaching 7,000, deserves a swimming pool. By the time a swimming pool is built, there will be 10,000 people in the town. That is a given. It is going to take two or three years to get this over the line, and the population of Loughrea is constantly rising. It is something we need to do urgently.”
“Then, all of a sudden, a few months ago, you are told that you need to be moved out of the Merriman Hotel and will be moved west of Galway city to the Connemara Coast Hotel. Something does not add up in the system when people move to our country to be looked after, only for two Government agencies to fail to work in tandem and for one of them to decide that it needs to move people out in order to house other refugees who, very legitimately, need to be housed in our country. There is a breakdown in communications there. I would also like to support Senator Rabbitte. I grew up in Loughrea. When I was four years old, people came to our door fundraising for a swimming pool. Thirty years later, there is still no pool in the town.”
“Imagine being a five-year-old in the town of Hostomel at the start of the war in Ukraine. One morning, the war reaches your door. Members of the Russian army burst in, occupy your house for weeks and you and your parents are forced to live in the basement, feeding off scraps until finally you are moved to Ireland, where you are welcomed into the town of Kinvara and the Merriman Hotel. You go to the local school and you make great friends. You engage with a speech and language therapist because you are so traumatised that you have been left with a stammer. You join the local orchestra in Gort and develop a network of friends. You have a support network around you, and you feel at home. You have been made to feel welcome in your community.”
“I cannot even begin to imagine at a younger age the damage that is done to a small child when abused in the hands of the State. I acknowledge Ms Coffey O'Brien's letter. I hear her. "What little of life we have left" was the phrase that really hit me. There is a lot of good in this Bill and a lot of positive steps forward. For what little of life the survivors have, the recommendations I have mentioned should be enacted and I will do all I can to make that happen.”
“It is not perfect. It is a serious progressive step forward, but it needs work. We must continue to listen to survivors, include those who were left behind, act with compassion and legislate with justice. Let us not just acknowledge past wrongs; let us build a future that finally provides the support, recognition and dignity that survivors have always deserved. I read Ms Coffey O'Brien's letter. I mentioned the vulnerability of a small child placed into institutional care and the damage that could be done. As a secondary school teacher, it hit home to me when I was out in the yard observing kids at break or even just conversing with them in the classroom how vulnerable they were at 12 and 13 years of age, coming into first and second year.”
“O'Farrell explained to me what that entailed. What it is doing is impressive but it needs more support. It should be placed on a statutory footing as recommended by the committee. Survivors deserve a permanent trauma-informed advocacy service with the resources and staffing necessary to reach even the most isolated survivors, including those overseas. This Bill provides for the dissolution of Caranua and the transfer of certain records to the Minister. Trust must be rebuilt transparently and respectfully. In 2019, while marking the tenth anniversary of the Ryan report, President Higgins said: “a commitment was made that we, as a society, would do all we could to address the great damage that had been inflicted on generations of children”. Fulfilling that commitment remains an obligation. This Bill is part of fulfilling that obligation.”
“Another essential element of this Bill is education. The grant scheme will support survivors in pursuing further and higher education on top of existing SUSI entitlements and will waive the student contribution charge. However, we must go further. Survivors have called for educational supports to extend to their families to break the cycle of disadvantage. I echo the committee’s call for a non-means-tested bursary of up to €3,000 annually for survivors and their immediate family members. The survivor-led consultative forum and the joint committee have rightly highlighted the overwhelming difficulty survivors face in navigating public services. I commend the work of Sage Advocacy. I spoke to Mr. Damian O’Farrell, a former councillor, recently. Sage Advocacy is already rolling out individual advocacy and information supports and Mr.”
“This represents a broader pattern of systemic exploitation, enabled and sanctioned by the State through the boarding out system. Many of these survivors, now elderly, have found themselves excluded or insufficiently compensated under current redress schemes. They gave their labour as children in conditions that would never be tolerated today and were left to carry the impact of that for the rest of their lives – lost education, lost opportunities and the loss of childhood itself. That is why I believe that the recommendation for a contributory State pension for survivors must be given urgent consideration. Just as the Magdalen laundry survivors received additional top-ups to their pensions to acknowledge unpaid institutional work, so too must this group be recognised for their contribution despite the absence of a formal work history.”
“In practice, however, many of these placements amounted to little more than unpaid child labour. Children were taken into households, not to be raised as family members, but to work on farms, in kitchens, in factories or minding other people’s children. This was a system that blurred the line between care and exploitation and, in far too many cases, erased it altogether. These were children, some as young as nine or ten, expected to perform adult duties every day, often without access to proper education, without pay and without oversight. The people they worked for were often the ones who were supposed to protect them but instead profited from their labour. These victims had no choice, no contract, no wage and no way to say "No". These were not isolated incidents.”
“Some were in prison. Others were suffering from cognitive impairments, some of which stemmed directly from their institutional experiences. We must not repeat those exclusions. That is why I welcome the call by the joint committee for the eligibility criteria in this Bill to be expanded to ensure all survivors of residential institutions covered by the Bill have equal access to its supports, even if they did not receive a prior award from the Residential Institutions Redress Board or Caranua. Many survivors, particularly those who were boarded out, have spoken powerfully of being denied fair recognition or compensation for the work they were made to do as children. To be boarded out was to be placed, usually from an industrial or residential institution, in a private home, often in rural Ireland under the pretence of care or fostering.”
“However, the Health (Amendment) Act, HAA, card provided for under the Health (Amendment) Act 1996, covers more services and has been identified by survivors groups as a key request. Therefore, the legislation should provide all survivors with a HAA card rather than the proposed enhanced medical card. For those survivors who live abroad, the Bill provides a €3,000 health support payment. While this matches the approach under the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, I put on record the concerns raised with me by survivors groups that this amount may not be sufficient, especially for those with complex needs or in vulnerable financial positions that may have been caused by institutional abuse. It is important that we learn from past redress processes. Many survivors were excluded from accessing redress in the early 2000s.”
“It marks a new phase in the State's response, a shift from one-off redress to life-long supports, and that is important. It seeks to establish enduring entitlements to health, education and advocacy. The enhanced medical card included in this Bill will ensure access to necessary health and social care services. This is the same package of supports that is provided to survivors of the Magdalen laundries under the Magdalen laundries scheme and that will be provided to former residents of mother and baby and county home institutions under the mother and baby institutions payment scheme. This is long overdue recognition of the cumulative impact that institutional abuse had on survivors' physical and mental health.”
“The consequences were life long, including physical scars born from violence, emotional wounds caused by abandonment and humiliation, and psychological trauma that often went unspoken about but was no less real. Survivors have lived with this burden for decades, often in silence, disbelieved or retraumatised by a society that looked away. That silence must end. This acknowledgement today is not just symbolic. It is a necessary foundation for action, reparation and justice that is long overdue. As a Fianna Fáil Senator, I am happy to see that our party and the Government are taking concrete steps to provide dignity, justice and sustained support to survivors. That is welcome. This Bill is about more than policy. It is about a moral obligation.”
“It is important to recognise their deep personal suffering, childhoods marked not by safety or nurture, but by fear, neglect and violence. This is an acknowledgement that the State, through its actions and inaction, abandoned its duty of care to the most vulnerable children in society. These children were placed in institutions with the promise, or at least the hope, of protection. Instead, they were subjected to systems that dehumanised them, exploited their innocence and inflicted harm where there should have been healing. That failure, as laid bare by the Ryan report and corroborated by countless testimonies, was not a marginal or accidental one. It was systemic. It was rooted in institutions that operated with impunity, were shielded by silence and were sanctioned by the very structures meant to hold them accountable.”
“I acknowledge Sheila O'Byrne and Catherine Coffey O'Brien, who are in the Gallery. I have read Ms Coffey O'Brien's letter and will revert to it in my concluding remarks. Senator Boyhan said that nothing beat life experience, and I fully agree. With the way he laid out his remarks, it hit home. I was a secondary school teacher before I became a Member of this House. Given the damage that can be done to a child when abused, I do not know how he has the strength to come from that background and be in this House advocating for others. It takes huge courage. I do not know how he does what he does, but fair play to him. Let me begin by acknowledging with the utmost sincerity the extraordinary pain, trauma and injustice suffered by survivors of residential institutional abuse.”
“We cannot have a situation whereby it resorts to tourist accommodation to make sure it is a viable entity, especially at a time when, just a few hundred metres up the road, the vacant Shannon Oaks Hotel could cater for the tourism needs of the town. This is something we need to look at. I echo the sentiments of Senator Flynn. Traveller mental health is a big issue and I would support a debate in the House on it.”