Kathleen Funchion supports extending Commission after report trauma

First of all I want to say that we are supporting the motion and I would also like to thank Deputy Whitmore and her colleagues and the Social Democrats for bringing this motion to the Dáil today and I know in particular that she is very passionate about this issue as well and ensuring that the voices of survivors are at the heart of every decision we make. So I am very happy to support the motion. The Mother and Baby Homes report was originally due to report in February 2018 but it wasn't until Tuesday 12th of January 2021 at 3pm nearly three full years later that Ireland and the world first got to read another depressing account of the state and church's appalling attitudes and treatment of women and children. We were all aghast, well I think most of us were anyway, at the findings of this report, the cold hard language used to describe the most heartbreaking of stories and I would actually go as far as to say that I believe this report has made the situation a hundred times worse and has really re-traumatised survivors and done a great disservice to the very brave women that came forward. Minister, there are several fundamental reasons why the Commission of Investigation should not be allowed to dissolve. Firstly, it is obvious to all who are in constant contact with survivors that many survivors have not fully read the report, actually many people were only still getting copies in the last week or two, so that has meant they have not had the opportunity to alert the Commission of serious anomalies with their testimonies. There is also the outstanding issue of accountability around the legality of this Commission destroying survivor testimonies and I do accept that we have discovered in the 11th hour that those testimonies can be retrieved but still there has to be a question answered as to why they believe they could do that in the first place. During the course of its work the Commission of Investigation requested and were granted extension after extension reasons cited for the absolute need for these various extensions included the late arrival of documents from the HSC and worrying at time was the inability of the HSC to provide relevant material. Another vague reason was the Commission needed more time to further complete its robust and accurate findings and the last extension was granted in relation to COVID. At each time, despite many of us and many survivors and their representatives groups being disappointed at another delay and very frustrated, there was a degree of goodwill on everyone's part as they were united in that they all wanted to see a comprehensive report that truthfully told their harrowing stories. The importance of personal testimony has shown time and time throughout history to play a vital role in our understanding and appreciation of the sacrifice that so many have made. I think it is ironic that one of the reasons for an extension was there was a delay in documents being given to the Commission and now when there is very serious questions and very legitimate questions there does not seem to be the same appreciation for the Commission having to be extended. Even without what you can do today by agreeing to extend the Commission, even if there was a situation where some people have muted the potential resignations, at least the body, the entity exists and survivors may have a mechanism then to amend their testimonies to reflect the reality of what they experienced and not the report's author's interpretation of that. If you are truly trying to find a resolution and genuinely committed to this, you need to listen to survivors. Minister, I have drafted this very simple bill. I just wanted to show it to people. It is literally one page. That is all that has to be done to put into the legislation to extend the life of the Commission. I think it is very important that it is done. As I say, I understand that last night or yesterday evening we heard that the backup tapes have been fined, which is obviously very welcome. However, why was there a question over them being destroyed in the first place? I believe that some questions have been asked of my colleagues. I know Deputy Mark Ward last week in committee raised the issue of it being actually verbatim versus summaries. And now that we do have the records or the backup tapes, this gives the opportunity now to ensure that we have everything taken down verbatim and not summaries. So even for that reason for the Commission to be extended and also to give people the opportunity if they do have questions, if they want to take a case. You know, it is not just, I feel like a broken record when I say this, but it is not acceptable to constantly say to people we understand and we have sympathy and we really want to do the right thing. And then when opportunity presents itself to do the right thing, that that is always ignored. And I really believe that the Commission needs to be extended to give everybody the opportunity to get the justice or some of the justice. It is not going to right all of the wrongs, but it certainly is part of what we need to do moving forward. We need to deal with the issue of redress and the medical cards and the access to birth certificates, the access to records. That is all really, really important. And, you know, it cannot be understated. However, we do need to get answers about this report and the way it was handled. And the fact that it took nearly six years, and when you look at it, I think all you have to say is, how could it have taken him so long to come up with such really a disgraceful and whitewash report? So we fully support the motion. Thank you. Thank you.