The Social Democrats believe it is imperative that proposed legislation to seal the records of the archives of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes for 30 years is not passed into law when it comes before the D\u00e1il this evening.<\/p>\n
A number of amendments to the Bill have been put forward by Social Democrats TDs Jennifer Whitmore, Gary Gannon and Holly Cairns.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Whitmore TD, the party\u2019s spokesperson for Children, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than afford the State the opportunity to right the wrongs perpetrated against the women and children in these homes, this Government is compounding the damage done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way in which this legislation has been brought before the D\u00e1il does not allow for sufficient scrutiny or consultation. Most problematic of all, however, is the fact that the women and families affected have not been consulted in the development of this legislation. Their voices will not be heard if it passes in its current form.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe simply cannot allow for the records relating to the commission to be sealed for 30 years. To do so would be to fail those women and children again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amendments put forward by Minister O\u2019Gorman yesterday do not rectify or address the substantive issue of the sealing of that documentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is crucial that the Minister opens his heart and eyes when looking at the amendments which the Opposition have put forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important that these women\u2019s voices are heard and we don\u2019t sweep it under the carpet for another 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon stated:<\/p>\n
\u201cTo understand the depth of feeling about this issue, last week each TD received over 4,000 emails asking that this legislation not be passed. The emails contained personal testimonies of women\u2019s experiences in mother and baby homes. The truth of this shameful history of incarceration and injustice pertaining to institutional abuse in this country has not yet been told.<\/p>\n
“The Minister is planning on sealing 4,000 pages of testimony, yet he does not know what\u2019s contained in there. It could contain testimony about forced adoptions, medical experimentation and all sorts of injustice inflicted on people so it\u2019s important we know what is in there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats, like many people in our society, want to stand for the truth. It is imperative that we do not allow the Government to seal these records.\u201d<\/p>\n
October 21, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Social Democrats believe it is imperative that proposed legislation to seal the records of the archives of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes for 30 years is not passed into law when it comes before the D\u00e1il this evening. A number of amendments to the Bill have been put forward by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,400,268,7,399],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gary-gannon","category-holly-cairns","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release","category-tds"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n