The government must do everything possible to prevent a group of institutional abuse survivors from resuming a hunger strike, according to Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins.
Deputy Cummins, who is the party’s spokesperson on education, said:
“Three and a half weeks have now passed since these four survivors – who were wronged in childhood and continue to be wronged as adults – ended a 50-day hunger strike. This followed a meeting with the Taoiseach who agreed, in writing, to address their reasonable requests for State supports.
“Since then, we have seen a new Minister for Education appointed who has informed the group she will not be available to meet them until January.
“Deeply frustrated by the lack of progress by the government, the survivors have now written to the Department of Education to say they are planning to resume their hunger strike. This situation must be avoided at all costs as they are still unable to eat properly after going 50 days without food.
“In the Dáil today, I urged the Taoiseach to immediate intervene to ensure that this scenario does not arise and that the commitments made to the survivors will be delivered on without further delay.”
December 3, 2025