I join the Taoiseach in thanking the group of survivors from industrial and reformatory schools for their presence in the Dáil today, and indeed for their campaign to highlight the ongoing legacy of trauma bestowed by this country's shameful history of cruelty towards children. Today we welcome Mary, Mary, Miriam and Maurice. I know you met with the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, last year. I know you told your own personal stories, which is a harrowing thing to do in and of itself. In doing so, however, you have brought about a renewed focus on the terrible experience of all survivors, and a further acknowledgement by the State of the dreadful harm that was done to children. The State has often compounded the wrongs of the past by failing to admit them quickly enough and failing to comprehensively acknowledge our part in them. I can think of too many examples where this has been the case. I hope today might serve another purpose in helping us to learn from that once and for all. Today I am glad that we are recognising the hurt and the pain of those abused in childhood in State institutions. Every time the silence that once surrounded your suffering is broken is a moment of light shining in the darkness. We have heard, as we should, in this House on many occasions of the systematically cold and harsh treatment of children and the endemic culture of abuse which went unchecked in our State for far too long. It is right that we should hear these harsh truths in this House and it is right that we should apologise for them. In truth, we can never apologise enough for what happened. In May 1999, the Government apologised to the victims of childhood abuse and recognised the acute pain and abuse that children suffered when they should have been cared for and protected by the State. Instead of love, care and protection, they were gravely wronged. In that apology, it was rightly accepted that abuse ruined their childhoods and remained an ever-present part of their adult lives. Although unable to escape the enduring and deep hurt that they carried with them down the years, survivors have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to sharing their stories, their terrifying living nightmares, so that the State would act. As with the survivors here today, each one of you has your own unique experience of suffering but I know that through your efforts you are seeking to improve things for all survivors of institutional abuse. I am sincerely and profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering you were subjected to in and by the State. Today we are building on that State apology of 1999 and all that has followed. Although not yet a Member of this House, I remember the Ryan report some ten years later and the appalling litany of abuse described therein. It is impossible to read the records of abuse reported by witnesses to that inquiry without feeling sick to your stomach. Not too long after I was first elected, I remember being present in this Chamber after the publication of the Cloyne report which, although a separate commission process to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, again exposed the disgusting downplaying of the rape and torture of children, and a dangerous disregard for child protection practices. I recall being present in this Chamber in 2013 for the then Taoiseach’s apology to the Magdalen women, as we visited again the cold and pitiless Ireland that was systematically punitive to girls and women. Of course, I remember being present in 2021 when the Taoiseach apologised to those who spent time in mother and baby homes in this country. So many occasions when we have had to once again unleash the national trauma of our past and expose again the wounds which never healed for children afflicted by a culture where indifference enabled violence, neglect and abuse. The dark past of this country is an abyss of misery for the children so victimised. It is right, as I have said, that this House listens and apologises and, more importantly, it is essential we act. It is true to say extensive work has been undertaken to reform our child welfare laws and ensure that our structures and accountability for child protection are robust and effective. The country held a referendum and the people voted to enshrine the best interests of children in our Constitution and in law. Mandatory reporting was introduced but we must also remind ourselves that when it comes to caring for and protecting our children, we must always be vigilant and always seek to improve services and safeguards. Child welfare concerns can never be seen as a thing of the past but must be an ever-present priority if we are to be true to the reforms we have made. In addition to the experience of those who were abused while in institutions, the Taoiseach also spoke about those who experienced abuse while boarded out. The 2021 State apology rightly recognised the many situations where children who were boarded out were treated shamefully. Far from being placed into the bosom of a family, children were neglected, abused and exploited for labour. Today, we clearly and unequivocally on behalf of the State apologise to those who suffered abuse in these circumstances. Today, we confirm, on the record of this House, that the State did not, and does not regard individuals as having committed a criminal offence and that no criminal record is recorded against them by virtue of their detention in any industrial school. I appreciate that with the Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Act 2025, we have entered into a new phase of ongoing supports for survivors of abuse. Today we seek to build on those concerns and supports as the Taoiseach has outlined. I welcome that. We hope that the actions we have taken to date and those we take now make some contribution to the healing process for survivors. I hope today’s apology goes some way towards that and that the support of the State today can start to make up, in some small way, for the neglect of the State when you were at your most helpless and vulnerable. I wan to conclude by restating again our deep sorrow for the grievous wrong that was done to you as children. We can never forget that the suffering deliberately imposed on the most blameless innocents is a stain on our nation. We can never stop trying to understand how, as a State and as a society, our most basic instinct - to protect our children - was warped into an appalling acceptance of abuse and abandonment. I think of a line from the poetry collection The Poison Glen by Annemarie Ní Churreáin – a collection informed by conversations with survivors of Irish institutions – in the poem "Creed". The line is "The Child, my sister, my brother, who was conceived out of darkness in a moment of light and placed into the care of Stone." We unequivocally apologise on behalf of the Government, the State and all the citizens of this State for all that you have endured.

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