Senator Gerard Craughwell- speech from 10 May 2022

Goir maith agat, Coirleach. Minister, you're welcome to the house. Coirleach, Victor, I want to thank you for always being willing to share your story, because a high-profile person like yourself sharing your story does so much for those who have no voice. So I want to recognise that today. Minister, I thank you for making an apology on behalf of the government, and I await an apology on behalf of the state, because I don't believe the state has made an apology that needs to come from the leader of the government, the Taoiseach himself. I agree very much with what has been said by my colleague senators here this evening. I came here this evening to speak against this bill, and I have toyed with this all night last night. Since I became a senator in 2014, I've been confronted with legislation that I never wanted to be a part of, and yet finished up supporting. I supported the gender recognition bill, I supported the marriage bill and referendum. And for an old fellow like me, who comes from a conservative background, it takes quite a lot to move there. And what has moved me this evening to now wanting to support you, was the word illegal. You see, I grew up in an Ireland that is so different to the Ireland we have today. A girl getting pregnant in my hometown disappeared, and she returned no longer pregnant, or she never returned. And those who did have children, even though they may have given the child up for adoption, and in most cases they were forced into it, when they came back their reputations were destroyed. Not only their reputation, but actually extended into their families, in some cases. And as I think about this, this evening, I think about the lies. The lies that have been told to those that were adopted. The lies that were told to friends and relations in order to cover the fact that an illegal registration of birth had taken place. The professional people involved. People that we looked up to. In my young days, people like doctors, priests, nuns, teachers, had a position in society which was above the rest of us, and we looked up to them. And here we had this criminal behaviour going on in institutions around this country. And I think this bill is vitally important, but I do have huge sympathy for the mothers that are about to be exposed. Because a lot of them were children themselves when they were pregnant. A lot of them were the direct result of rape or incest. And it was all buried under the carpet. In my own hometown, there was a few priests that were used. And when a girl was pregnant, irrespective of how she became pregnant, she was moved on. And in the society we live in, even today, girls are expected to be the ones that will say, No, stop. I don't want to do this. I don't want to get pregnant. Right? But where are the fathers in this bill? Where are the men that brought about, or were participants, in bringing about the pregnancy? We will never, ever, ever know them. And some of them today hold responsible positions in society and are delighted that their little misdemeanor, as they would have thought of it, was moved on. Whether we like it or not, institutions in this country sold babies. And that is the truth of it. And I want to know, how are we going to recover that? How are we going to get back and make these institutions repatriate to the state? The monies they took for selling citizens of this state. They sold them to America. They sold them all over the world, so they did. It's absolutely disgraceful. But, Minister, like they say in the medical profession, whatever you do, don't cause any more harm. And what we need here is a balance of harms. There will be women there today who have lived lives. I was thinking last night of an 82-year-old woman sitting in her sitting room with her husband and her children. And this dark secret sitting in the background at maybe 65 years old, waiting for the knock, waiting for the registered letter, waiting for her past to come back and abuse her for a second time. Because I'm not so sure every mother was happy about the adoptions they were forced into. I'm not so sure that those girls have ever forgotten the hurt that was done to them. I lived in those years. I saw what went on. And I commend you for bringing this forward. I'll finish on this, Kyle. I commend you for bringing this forward. I will work with those that want to bring amendments forward. But I will support you and I compliment you for what you've done. And I hope you don't take any personal insult from me requesting the state to make a proper apology. You have done a great job here as the Minister bringing this bill forward. And I know how committed you are to this. So I compliment you for your work. But I do want the state to step forward. Thank you, Minister. Thank you.