Victor Boyhan
Agricultural Panel · Independent · Ireland
“It also mentions the agrifood sector and the importance of diversification in agriculture, the maritime sector, coastal communities and fishing communities in terms of rural policy.”
“I know from my engagement with both the Department and the Minister that over 900 submissions to the consultation process were received. No Member or parliamentarian will have had the opportunity to consider the anonymised version of these consultations, which contain many good suggestions in favour of the regulations and many concerns in…”
“I welcome the Minister and the official to the Seanad. This is particularly important Private Members' business. I thank Senators Collins and Tully for setting out the background and the rationale behind their Private Members' motion. I acknowledge the Minister's exceptional commitment to rural Ireland and his Ministry.”
“I am conscious of the Minister's public consultation, and I acknowledge it and thank them for it, in relation to the Our Rural Future work programme in 2025. In fairness to him, he did not stop at that. I received a further update when I requested it from his office very recently.”
“This will come about through that process. It is for the Minister to decide. Maybe he will do so tomorrow when the regulations are dealt with. However, when Senators are in this Chamber discussing these regulations tomorrow, they will have no sight of any constituent who made a submission. That is my first item.”
“I am pleased to see Senator Byrne in the Leader’s chair. I wish him well in that job. I also wish him well in his new position as Government Whip. There are three items I wish to discuss today. First is the exempt development regulations, which are being covered extensively in the media.”
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“He states: Professional planners not only recognise the gravity of the housing crisis - we are actively working to be part of the solution. We welcome meaningful, evidence-based reforms that support the accelerated, coordinated, and sustainable delivery of apartments and homes in communities across the country. While we all share the Minister’s priorities of bringing development costs down and accelerating housing delivery, we are not convinced that the announced changes will achieve what’s intended. In particular, the erosion of unit mix requirements represents a market-led approach to housing that is fundamentally at odds with the significant work undertaken by the Department of Housing to date to create a plan-led system. I go back to that plan-led system.”
“After all of this time, are we to believe or to be told that nobody has the capacity, will, or resources to translate this critical and important legislation into our native language? We want an answer to that. We also want to know when it will happen. That is the first thing. Second, Gavin Lawlor, president of the IPI stated, "While we all share the Minister’s priorities of bringing development costs down and accelerating housing delivery, we are not convinced that the announced changes will achieve what’s intended." He is of course referring to the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025 that we are considering now. Gavin Lawlor issued a formal press release that has been covered extensively in the media.”
“I will share what was said by Gavin Lawlor, president of the Irish Planning Institute, IPI, of which many of the Minister of State's staff are members, be they officials in the Department or our local authorities. I have spoken to a number of chief executives in local authorities. I have spoken to many of our city and county councillors. One might ask what city and county councillors have to do with it. They are the guardians of their city and county development plans. Of course, we were told that this famous Planning and Development Act 2024 would be the panacea for everything in planning. We do not have a completed version of this, and I hope the Minister of State will touch on that because we need an answer at this point. Remember, the citizens of this State can litigate as Gaeilge. That is their constitutional right.”
“I will continue on from what Senator McDowell was saying about this particular juncture we are at. I will share some thoughts. I am conscious of time and do not want to waste too much today. I am conscious I have no amendments myself but I intend to contribute to some of the amendments. I have certainly collaborated with a number of people. I do not believe everything I read in the print media but I buy the Business Post on Sunday. It is an excellent paper that focuses particularly on a lot of planning and real estate issues. If you were to believe some of the articles in it, which are attributed to a number of people, you would certainly be scratching your head and asking what is really going on.”
“There has to be democracy attached to the public realm and public space and, therefore, to be told politely to "F off" basically when they are asked to get out of the way. All over Dublin, the suburbs and the country we have extended tables and chairs way beyond the parameters of this legislation. People with disabilities, people with young children and tricycles and elderly people cannot navigate our streets. This motion is going ahead, and I am supporting it, but with that comes an explanatory memorandum telling the local authorities it is their responsibility to police this and work with the disability sector. It is important that everyone and every sector of society and community are entitled to equal access to the public realm. That needs to be borne in mind in relation to this legislation.”
“It is before us tomorrow, but I am going to speak about it now. This will give me the opportunity to convey an email about it to the Minister this afternoon. Every year, I stand up here because this is a statutory requirement to bring this motion to both Houses of Oireachtas. It needs Oireachtas approval for such a minor detail. I have no difficulty with the restaurateurs, or anybody using the public realm outside to maximise their business. I see the health, goodness and the community benefits of having the public realm used in terms of social interaction. My main concern is that of people with disabilities. Advocates for the disability sector and the visually impaired sector constantly tell me they are confronted with challenges in navigating the public realm.”
“There is a motion before the House today in respect of the Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2025, to be taken without debate. It is important. I ask the Leader to convey this to the relevant people and the relevant Minister. Is there an issue with it?”
“I thank the Minister of State. I am most impressed with the Deputy's Latin. I say "Well done", to everyone and, "Thank you." I particularly thank the Minister of State for giving us of his time. He took three of the Commencement matters. We value him coming to the Seanad. He is always welcome here, as he knows. I thank the Senators for submitting their Commencement matters.”
“Before I call the Minister of State, I welcome Deputy Feighan and his guests, and all the guests in the Gallery. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their visit to Leinster House and the hospitality that comes with it, too.”
“We need to engage with the local authorities. Let us not scapegoat them and tell them they are failing. The Minister of State was a member of a council, as I was. We know the difficulties. I genuinely wish him well on this. I want to be practical and supportive because anything that brings about new homes has to be good.”
“I support that. It is important that we provide reasonable and fair extensions to planning permissions for housing developments that are nearing the end of their duration, or that can be completed within a reasonable period. I support that. On the judicial review period being discounted as part of the life of a planning permission, I support that - surprise, surprise. I do not have a problem with the substantive issues around the Bill, but we need to get back to the table. Let us stop deflecting people. The case is clear. There are 50,000 units in the city of Dublin that currently have planning permission. We need to do something about that. If we are committed, we need communication on every aspect of this. I say that to departmental officials as I say it to the Minister of State. We need to communicate the messages.”
“We cannot incentivise local authorities to take money - albeit, let us be clear, legitimately - in lieu of what are quality spaces, be they public or private. My takeaway from last Monday's meeting of Dublin City Council is that it wants to engage. It includes members of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin, as well as Independent councillors. They want to meet with the Minister for housing. Will the Minister of State take back that message? It is important that we have dialogue. We have got to work together to resolve the issues around housing and the housing crisis. My appeal is, on behalf of those councillors, that the Department and the Minister reach out to engage with the elected members of our city council. It is important that we maximise the full potential of existing planning permissions to realise new homes.”
“I am opposed to single-aspect units. As many planning design experts will tell you, they do not advocate we should put people living permanently in single-aspect units. If a unit faces north, energy will be used to heat it. If it has a single south-facing aspect, energy will be needed to cool it down. It simply does not make sense. An issue and concern also raised by these Dublin City Council councillors last Monday was that communal and community or cultural facilities within apartment schemes will not be required. I saw in today's press that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council planners sought money, more than €400,000, in lieu of open space requirements and internal spaces. There is an issue here.”
“It cited overreaching by the Government on plans to scrap mandatory community facilities in new apartment schemes, which it saw as undermining local planning rules, reducing housing quality and prioritising development interests over the greater good. Councillors who contributed to the debate spoke passionately about maintaining and utilising existing housing stock. It is a disgrace, when walking around our city, to see the amount of housing stock, both public and private, that is in a derelict state. The council also advocated and supported the demand and need for new housing. I absolutely support new housing but I support it on the basis of proper planning and sustainable development, with good design principles. Would the Minister of State like to live, because I certainly would not, in a very small box facing north?”
“She confirmed she was not in a position to analyse the additional measures he announced this week in respect of new guidelines around apartment sizes, which I said I would point out here. She was not in a position, in preparation for the Bill and this briefing prepared for us, to add those guidelines into the mix. That was a particular pity. I will draw the Minister of State's attention to a few issues I will touch the edges of. His party has a number of councillors on Dublin City Council. I was very interested in their contributions, and those of other Government councillors, last Monday, when that council passed an emergency motion on the new guidelines for apartments.”
“It is all people spewing out stories about the problems but not really getting us anywhere. We have to deal in facts. I am a realist and a pragmatist. I have been around politics a long time. I absolutely support the need to build houses. On a positive note, this Bill is an agile initiative that will, or should, ensure additional time is given to active planning permissions. I accept that. Nobody wants to see vital housing projects that are compliant with best practice and fully aligned with the principles of proper planning and sustainable development blocked. We need to extend planning permissions for a limited and reasonable period. To enlighten the Minister of State a little more, I spoke to Dr. Deirdre Halloran before I came to the Chamber.”
“We have to start copping on to ourselves. We have to stand up to vested interests and get these units built. The viability gap is another argument that is constantly spewed out in relation to these matters. Only 7,500 of the 50,000 unstarted units are held up in judicial review. Let us put the correct facts and figures on this and this research paper has told us what they are. Construction costs are not addressed in this Bill, The digest from the Library and Research Service tells us there is no mention of it in the Bill and it is not addressed in it. Funding availability and funding issues, which are also argued by Government party spokespersons, are not addressed in this Bill. That is confirmed in this research paper. Market demand is not addressed either.”
“We were getting more resources. We were going to investigate serious accusations of corruption in An Bord Pleanála. None of it has come to anything. What is the public beginning to say about it all? The digest refers to greater alignment with the various planning decisions and the judicial review process. I want to put to bed, for once and for all, this suggestion that judicial reviews are causing problems. It is an interesting point. This digest confirms there are more than 50,000 apartments in Dublin alone that have planning permission but have not commenced construction. What is that telling us? There are 50,000 units with planning permission that has not expired, which are not under construction. We are told the developers cannot make enough money and it is all price sensitive. They are making too much money in some cases.”
“Deirdre Halloran, a senior parliamentary researcher in law, who provided the Bill digest. I want to share some of the comments it makes on this legislation, as otherwise we will be wasting a resource at our disposal. Dr. Halloran makes some critically important points in a more concise way than I could possibly make them. To provide some background, the purpose of the Act was to introduce a mandatory decision-making process. Dr. Halloran refers to the reorganisation of An Bord Pleanála. This all relates to the Act of last year. We are still no further on regarding those reforms of An Bord Pleanála. We talked ad nauseam here last year about those reforms. I read the Official Report of the Dáil and Seanad and noted many Members' amendments and contributions. We got all sorts of promises. The devil and all was happening.”
“It is reported in this week's papers that members of Government parties are frustrated in relation to infrastructure. They have a valid right to raise issues of concern, but the Government needs to be consistent in their message. This Bill comprises 17 sections in four Parts. I note there is no general scheme. There was no regulatory assessment done before the Bill was published. The Bill did not undergo pre-legislative scrutiny, albeit on the basis of a request made to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and it is its prerogative to agree to that. However, that practice should not continue. Regulatory impact assessments should be done on all legislation. I advise the Minister of State and his officials to get a copy of the Bill digest. I acknowledge Dr.”
“I know it is a long Act. I took the time to look at the Áras an Uachtaráin website to see the date on which the President signed the Act. We were told it was emergency legislation and certain sections would be immediately enacted. This legislation was guillotined in the Dáil and Seanad, supported by the parties in the current Administration. It is hard to believe that they, in some shape or form, have been in Government or supported Government in some ways. That is interesting. A previous Senator spoke about infrastructure. I too raise the need for infrastructure. I read in the national press this week of elected Members from the Government parties who oppose major pieces of critical infrastructure. That is on the record. It can be seen on boards.ie and elsewhere.”
“I welcome the Minister of State and his officials, who are well known to us at this stage following the previous planning Bill. It is worth putting in context for those tuning in that we are dealing with the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025. We are now amending a 2024 Bill that still has not been translated into Irish. There have been queries to the legal services because if there were to be a legal challenge to the Act, which the Minister has not yet given full effect to, the courts have determined that people have the right to litigate in their native language, that is, as Gaeilge. That is an important point I would like the Minister of State to bring back. What is the delay? I have raised this issue three times in the Seanad and we are told we cannot get the Act translated into our native language.”
“He was not in a position to furnish such evidence to the committee yesterday. I hope we will tease that out during the ongoing debate. Finally, I thank the Association of Irish Local Government, the Local Authorities Members Association, the Senators here and the councillors who lobbied hard to see a reasonable and fair increase in the allowances for security. That process has now come to an end. The Minister with overall responsibility for housing, planning and local government has prepared a circular and my full understanding is that it will be issued to everybody this morning. I thank the Minister for seeing that through. I thank all those who advocated to make the case for a better deal for our city and county councillors in regard to the security allowance attached to their work.”
“We went through all of this last week and we know where it got us and which people stood up to be counted and those who did not. Sometimes it is not what you do, it is what you do not do. That is a message I commit to continue to drive home. In regard to the Government's apartment guidelines, I support the Government in any effort to enhance the development of our homes but I do not support single-aspect boxes facing north that need heating in summer and winter, or single-aspect apartments facing south that need energy to cool down in the summer. We need to look at that again. I sat in on the housing committee yesterday evening where the Minister, Deputy Browne, made the case that between €50,000 and €100,000 per unit would be saved as a result of this scheme. There is no evidence of that.”
“There is a sort of subtlety in that - I want to drive that message home here today - abuse comes in many forms, including sexual, physical and emotional abuse. There should not be a hook that will allow the Government off on the basis that the investigation can only be into sexual abuse. All forms of abuse are abuse. If a child of six is beaten over the head for two years in a school, that child stops learning and his or her emotional development is curtailed. That is abuse. Let us not decouple sexual abuse from emotional or any other form of abuse. That is a message I will continue to drive home. Abuse comes in many forms, as does redress. It is not all about money; it is about healthcare, housing and supports such as psychological supports.”
“I have three items I want to discuss. First is in respect of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee’s announcement on the commission yesterday. The second item is the new planning guidelines as espoused by the Government, and the third item is the new security allowances and the related circular to be issued today by the Department of housing and local government. I will go back to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, first. I warmly welcome the announcement that she will establish, with the Government, a commission of investigation into historical sexual abuse in all of the day and boarding schools. The catch here is sexual abuse. I listened to my colleague, Senator McDowell, on "Drivetime" last night and other commentators in the media yesterday and today.”
“I welcome the Minister of State to the House for statements on the national drugs strategy. The Minister of State will have ten minutes to speak. Group spokespersons will have ten minutes, all other Senators will have four minutes, and the Minister of State will be called on to reply to the debate no later than 7.22 p.m. Statements will have to conclude by 7.30 p.m., in line with the Order of Business as agreed today.”
“The Department of housing has pulled out of that particular bundle and it will not be proceeding. The Commencement matter threw up nothing. Neither the Minister nor the Ministers of State at the Department were here, which is now common practice. A Minister of State from another Department came to the House but was unable to enlighten us as to when this scheme of houses, among a number of other public-private partnership bundles, would commence. I ask the Leader to ascertain the situation from the Department. It is rare we seem to be able to get a Minister from the Department relevant to a Commencement matter to come to the House. Will the Leader pursue the issue and ask the Minister or the Ministers of State at the Department to clarify the situation for me and the House? What is the alternative starting date?”
“I ask the Leader to ascertain from the Government, or from the Minister or the Ministers of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, when we will have a new housing plan. We were promised when the Government came to power that we would either have a new housing plan to replace the existing one or a simple update of the current Housing for All plan. It is important. We are shortly to enter our summer recess. The Government has been in place for months and we still do not have a national plan. There is a housing crisis in this country. I today submitted a Commencement matter in respect of Ardrew in Athy, County Kildare. It was one of a number of public-private partnership bundles to provide social and affordable housing and, indeed, private housing.”
“All of these sites and bundles have planning permission. What the hell, who is minding the housing issue in the Custom House when we have been told time and again that we have a housing crisis? Clearly, we are not important enough for the Department to advance these units. I ask the Minister of State to confirm to me that I can go downstairs and pick up the phone to the guys in Kildare County Council and say this project will happen within six weeks, six months or six years.”
“That reply is exceptionally disappointing and simply not good enough. The Minister of State is not in a position to tell me when the Ardrew housing scheme in Athy, County Kildare, will be advanced. It really is appalling. The housing scheme has planning permission, yet the project has sat on his table in his Department. As Kildare County Council has confirmed, the Department has been aware of all the developments I listed. If I was one of the nearly 5,000 people on Kildare County Council's housing list, I would be disappointed. The Minister of State did not give a timeline or date for when these works will start. I accept and respect the fact that he is speaking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage but that is no consolation to the people in County Kildare who are on the housing list. This site is advanced.”
“There is grave disappointment at the lack of progress. The fact that the Minister and the Department have agreed to reassess all of these at such a late stage, particularly with regard to Ardrew where people were ready to go, is very disappointing. I acknowledge the work of former Senator Mark Wall, who is now a TD, and his councillors. They have really been the advocates of this. I met people on the ground in Athy last Saturday. I am shocked at what I am hearing but, more importantly, what I am seeing and what I have validated from cross-referencing with the Department and Kildare County Council. I hope that the Minister of State will be able to enlighten us on these matters.”
“The developments affected by these reviews consist of 60 social homes at Oldtown Mill in Celbridge, County Kildare; 99 social homes and 32 affordable homes in Coolaghknock Glebe in Kildare town; 104 social homes in Rathasker in Naas, County Kildare; and 98 social homes and 40 affordable homes in Rickardstown in Newbridge, County Kildare. This sets the scene in Kildare alone. Returning to the Ardrew project, over 800 people are on the housing list in the Athy municipal district area. That is only one part of the county. There is a desperate need for four-bedroom units based on medical and overcrowding assessment and need, and they have been validated. Some of these units would have been four-bedroom. The Department has decided to reconsider all aspects of bundles 4 to 7 in the Kildare County Council area. There is a crisis.”
“For those who are not acquainted with the bundle system - I am conscious that there are always people listening in - housing construction bundles are associated with a specific group of social housing projects within a large PPP programme, where private contractors take on the design, build, finance, operation and tenancy management of a set number of social housing units with the support of the Government and within a scheme. The Ardrew housing development is not the only one affected by the Department's interventions. The Department has confirmed that housing developments under bundles 4 and 5 are also to be reconsidered in the context of the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA. I can see why that might be necessary.”
“I would be interested to hear the reason for that from the Minister of State, but the Department cited the overall cost of the project at Ardrew, which was considered too high. The construction of new homes at Ardrew was planned to begin in a few weeks' time. Indeed, builders were on site and preparatory works were being carried out. This project was ready to go. The Department had considerable notice of it and was fully aware of the finances, planning and various stages associated with this proposed development. This did not come out of the blue. It begs the question of who is minding the shop down in the Custom House in respect of our social housing programme. Planning approval was in place and the contractors were ready to go. This was, of course, all part of a public-private partnership. The Ardrew project was part of bundle 3.”
“The Minister of State is welcome back to the House. He is no stranger to housing and the Department of housing and local government. My Commencement matter relates to Ardrew in Athy, County Kildare. I am also going to mention a number of other projects related to County Kildare. The Minister of State may or may not be aware that the construction of over 70 social housing units in a community building project scheme for Ardrew has been halted by the Department of housing, which is the Department charged with the promotion of sustainable planning and development and tackling our housing crisis. It is strange to be in a position where the Department is clearly reconsidering a number of housing projects.”
“Thank you for the privilege of taking the Chair. I sometimes have to pinch myself and remind myself of the journey that I took. It is always a great honour to be with colleagues in the Seanad. We endeavour to do what we do to the best of our own ability and commitment, and within our own political movements and our own political strengths. I call Senator Tully.”
“They have not lost heart with Ireland. They may have lost heart with their faith, they may have lost heart with people who they thought cared about them, but they are innately Irish people. I hope that, as an Irish state, as a republic, a true republic in the meaning of what a republic is all about, we will stand with them, work with them and commit to advocating and making this world, for the past few years that they have, a somewhat better place than the experience they had to endure at the hands of this State in the past.”
“Those are my requests to the Minister, which I will email to her. I know she cannot pursue them all on her own. I ask that she bring them forward as part of the whole-of-government approach her predecessor, Deputy Foley, spoke about in April last year. I am committed to pursuing these issues and I will not lose heart. I believe in the parliamentary and democratic process. I ask my colleagues, if they support any of my requests, to take it upon themselves to advocate for and pursue them within their parliamentary parties. Will they chip away and try to see if we can make this world a better place for a generation of people who are mostly now over 75? These are men and women who served this State with distinction, people who still want to call themselves Irish, who are our diaspora, who are all over the world and who connect with Ireland.”
“We must look at how we can address a situation whereby people, many of whom contact my office on a regular basis, were victims, as children, of drug trials in State institutions. The Minister has committed to pursuing rigorously the indemnity agreement that was made between the Government of the time and the churches. I hope she will follow up on this. We should remember that it was those indemnified institutions that were included in the redress schedule. Where religious orders did not enter into the indemnity scheme - a full copy of which I have in my office, signed by the religious superiors - many of the relevant institutions were not allowed into the redress scheme. As we all know, the people who lived in those institutions did not and will not qualify under the terms of the Bill the Minister has brought to the House.”
“The greatest honour that couple could bestow was to leave to the boy, now a man, their homes and 30 acres when they died, but he had to sell it. Others have probably had similar experiences. I ask for justice and redress for the vulnerable children who were used for drug trials. The Taoiseach gave a commitment to both Houses on a number of occasions to investigate the testing of drugs and vaccines on children without any consent by their parents or guardians. The facts have been ascertained and the Government is fully aware of them. We continue to have an immunisation programme delivered by GlaxoSmithKline, which is the successor of companies involved in those trials. A number of successful journalists have done a lot of work on this issue.”
“Many of them ran away and are now in mental institutions or otherwise in difficulty. Men were farmed out with no consent from their parents. Nobody seems to know who was in loco parentis . I have brought a number of those individuals as guests to Leinster House and have heard their stories and experiences. We surely must do something for them, including providing outreach. I know of a man who was left a smallholding in Galway who, because he was not related to the owner, had to sell all the land to pay the inheritance tax. These were nice people with no children who took a boy aged seven into their home. He worked as a farm labourer, picking potatoes and stones, but he had a loving and meaningful relationship with those people.”
“That should be guaranteed through whatever measures may be required. I ask for measures to address the intergenerational impact of abuse by way of counselling services and educational supports for the children of survivors. The intergenerational impact of abuse is something I have learned about in recent years. I know of teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s in addiction, homeless and with other difficulties whose parents came through very difficult times. It is a cycle of intergenerational suffering. There is a lot of work to do in terms of networking and providing supports. It is an area that needs particular care. We need redress for people who were boarded out. Girls who were put into slavery have been given no recognition, care or support and no pension.”
“I ask for a special pension for survivors, who include child labourers and pregnant women who had to work in industrial laundries. They have no pension contributions and no special provision. The Minister, Members and people in the Gallery know of these people. There should be a special pension or subvention - it can be called whatever the Minister likes - to give them some decency, dignity and care in their old age. I ask that we consult with survivors on suitability of nursing home care. These are people who were in institutions for years and may now have to go back into institutional care. Many of them have no partners, children or family members and they will need care. It is important that we have an aftercare package for them. We must continue to offer full, free and unlimited counselling support services for survivors.”
“We should consider working closely with the Camden, Tower Hamlets and other councils in the greater London area. There is huge demand from Irish people living there and elsewhere abroad to avail of the services provided for under the scheme. The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is doing a lot of work with the Irish diaspora. There are challenges in this regard. I visit London six or seven times a year and that includes visiting the Irish centres and the people who go there, who are now in their 80s and 90s. We must look at how we can help them. The phrase "bring them home" has a nice tune to it but it is not possible. In many cases, the home they left is not the home to which they would be returning. I ask that we prioritise housing for those people.”
“I ask that we look again, with a whole-of-government approach, at access to the Health (Amendment) Act card, as it covers more than the enhanced medical card provided under the scheme. I will email her about this. Most of the people we are discussing are in their 70s, 80s or 90s and already have medical cards. I had a letter from, and spoke to, a woman who is on medical pain relief patches that cost €90 a month and are not covered by her medical card. I have spoken to people who have to go a chiropodist and only get €30 off a €75 consultation because it is not covered by the medical card. These are people who have real issues with their health. Let us look at access to the HAA medical card. I ask that we prioritise using local government services to see whether housing and supports can be accessed for survivors.”
“Caroline Sweeney, one of the senior parliamentary researchers in law, who serves us so well in her work. We must be positive and pragmatic as we go forward. I again refer to the statement by the Minister's predecessor in the Department, Deputy Foley, when she said: "The whole of government is acutely conscious of the enormous trauma which has been endured by all survivors of abuse, including those in residential institutions [and schools]. It is vital that survivors know that government is responding." I believe the Minister, Deputy McEntee, will respond. I believe the exchanges we have had in the past few days have impacted on her. I think she has learned something from our exchanges, and I thank her for that. I have a number of requests for the Minister.”
“I have a lot of time for faith-based communities. Many of them have suffered and are victims themselves. In a community, be it a family or religious community, when someone goes astray and does horrible, dangerous and evil things, it sometimes reflects on everybody, which is not always fair. I have always said we must acknowledge the good people in religious life who had great difficulties in highlighting their concerns. l thank the Oireachtas Library and Research Service. As I say in reference to every Bill we debate, without the support of its staff and the forensic detail they provided in the digest on this and other legislation relating to the residential institutions redress scheme, I would not be equipped with all the facts. I thank in particular Dr.”
“They should be included in the redress scheme. I spoke earlier about St. Augustine's school for children with special needs and learning difficulties, which was one of many facilities run by St. John of God. Many of those people came from disadvantaged homes and institutions. We have seen very little justice for them but, last week, the courts gave a five-year sentence to an 85-year-old man, who is now in Mountjoy Prison. However, it is not much consolation to the brave victims, men and women, who lived in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland. There were also the children in Malawi, where this man was sent and where he continued his horrific crimes. We saw how the religious orders surrounded their brother member. Of course, there can be one bad apple in an orchard and I will never condemn all religious.”
“I am not going to delay the Members too much because we had a lot of debate on this for many years in both Houses. Ultimately, we live in a democracy and politicians make decisions, and ultimately some of them are held to account and others are not because of the different electoral systems we have. I am a democrat and I am also a pragmatist. There will be other days and opportunities and I believe in the power of democracy and engagement. We will have to go back to the grind and impress upon politicians again what has to be done. I think today in particular of the survivors of Westbank Orphanage in the home town of the Tánaiste. I think of the commitments the Wicklow TDs, and, indeed, a few Senators and councillors, gave them. I believe we will see a way forward for the Westbank survivors, and rightly so, as the commission recommended.”