I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and thank Deputy Bacik and the Labour Party for bringing it forward. Sinn Féin supports this legislation and any step towards ensuring that survivors of institutional abuse can finally access the justice they have been denied for so long. I welcome the visitors to the Gallery. For decades, survivors have shown immense courage in their fight for recognition and redress. They have campaigned tirelessly to break the silence of a shameful chapter in our history. Sinn Féin has consistently stood with them, as we did when we brought forward amendments to the Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill to provide for a contributory State pension, a full Health (Amendment) Act, HAA, medical card and other supports to reflect the intergenerational trauma suffered. Another amendment I proposed at that time was commensurate compensation from religious orders, that "Within 6 months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall prepare a comprehensive plan to deliver commensurate compensation from Religious Orders, this to include a consideration of every avenue of recourse and a timeline of engagements and actions, in pursuit of the public good.". That was an amendment that we proposed, but the Government had other plans. Those plans serve only to delay and deny. I listened to the Minister. I do not know if he was going for a record in terms of mentioning the word "complex" in one Dáil statement. I am not legally qualified. I think I am the first person to speak on this so far who is not legally qualified. I recognise that these issues are complex but when I hear complexity, I hear a bureaucratic governmental language that serves only to delay. Let us act with haste here and pursue these issues aggressively to deliver justice. That is not to do a disservice to the complexity of them at all. The Bill before us is a direct response to repeated failures by the State to compel religious orders and other unincorporated bodies to pay their fair share. It is a further stain on this Government that it has taken so long to act. Successive Administrations have failed to hold these institutions accountable, leaving survivors to navigate a labyrinth of legal obstacles while religious orders engaged in legal and financial manoeuvring to shield their assets, which, I believe, is a deliberate conscious decision on their part. The core of this Bill is about ending that evasion. It will allow civil proceedings to be brought directly against unincorporated bodies and remove the absurd legal barrier that has prevented survivors from suing organisations directly. Importantly, it provides a mechanism to access the assets of associated trusts, preventing orders from hiding behind complex structures to avoid their responsibilities. This aligns with Sinn Féin's stated position that everything must be on the table, including legal action and the seizure of assets, to ensure these institutions, orders and organisations contribute to redress. For too long, the Government has offered only tea and sympathy. The State has failed survivors in their early years and has continued to fail them in their later years. Today, we have a chance to right a wrong. The Government should allow this Bill to progress, with no six-month delay. If there are technical concerns, they can be addressed in committee. What cannot be countenanced is further obstruction or delay. It is incumbent on the Government to facilitate the Bill's scrutiny through the relevant Oireachtas sectoral committee. This is a reasonable request. The interdepartmental group, IDG, is examining redress for historical sexual abuse in schools. In recent responses to me, the Minister for education said that the IDG is examining the mechanisms that can be brought to bear to ensure that any future redress scheme is appropriately funded by those who were responsible for the schools where child sexual abuse took place. These mechanisms may include any administrative, legal, financial or other processes that can assist Government in its consideration of the issue of redress and how any scheme to be considered might be funded by those responsible for schools where sexual abuse occurred. We do not know what will come of this review but time is of the essence and we cannot countenance any unnecessary delay. Most importantly, this cannot be a case of tinkering at the edges. This has to be ambitious and aggressive in its pursuit of what is right; that those who perpetrated these harms are held accountable. It is a matter of justice. Any future redress scheme must be funded properly by those responsible and this Bill is a helpful tool to achieve that. I urge all sides of the House to support its passage.

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