Today's statements on Bessborough are welcome and very important but they will be meaningless unless the Government takes action on foot of the debate today. I urge the Minister to listen to the contributions from across the House, including by Members from her own party, who are calling on the Government to intervene. The bottom line is that apartments should not be built on what is very likely a mass grave. It would not be accepted anywhere else and we cannot accept it here. Níl sé ceart. Last week I spoke at a protest outside the gates of Leinster House. I want to say directly to the Minister what I said to the survivors and their supporters at that gathering. Recently I attended a vigil organised at the Bessborough site in Cork. Afterwards I took time to look at the death records from the institution: 923 children died in the care of the nuns in Bessborough. The scale of the suffering cannot be overstated, yet only 64 burials are accounted for. The commission of investigation into mother and baby homes found that it is very likely the remains of infants are buried on this site. During the 1940s in Ireland, the infant mortality rate was 6.5%. In Bessborough, it was nearly 61%, which is ten times higher. The State knew this and it turned a blind eye. Officials in the Department of Local Government and Public Health at the time recognised that should Bessborough deaths be leaked to the public it would result in a "public scandal". All these years later all we have is a decision to grant permission to build apartments on the site that saw so much tragedy. Some of those in power think that this is an issue of the past. They could not be more wrong. The survivors of Bessborough have never received justice. Families are still looking for information and answers. This is not just about Bessborough. If the planning permission goes through here, it sets a precedent for the use of other grounds and other institutions such as those in Sean Ross Abbey and Castlepollard where burials also remain unaccounted for. These children matter, the survivors matter and our history matters. The Government cannot treat this like a normal planning application and sit idly by as concrete is poured over graves. Despite what the Government might say, our reckoning with this dark period of our history is not over. It is crucially important that future generations understand what happened here and elsewhere. We need a full investigation of the grounds of Bessborough. This should be followed by sensitive excavation of the site, which should then be subject to a CPO to establish a memorial for all those who suffered. The Minister mentioned the museum in Dublin but survivors elsewhere across the country, including in Cork, also need a space, not just an apartment complex. Every attempt to reckon with this period of our history has been deeply flawed. Time and again successive Governments have failed survivors. This cycle must end. That starts with the Minister intervening to stop this planning application at Bessborough. Abuse cannot, and must not, be cemented over.

Sentiment score: -0.13