Institutional Burials (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-25 ============================================================ Eileen Flynn (IND), Administrative Panel I thank Senator Ruane for her dedication and hard work for mothers and their babies, not just today but in the last Seanad as well. She has worked hard to bring justice to the victims and their forgotten children. Today in the Dáil there was an apology around institutional ill-treatment. The State has always had scandals. This evening, why give an apology in the other House and come in here and not support a Bill that also talks about institutional ill-treatment? I cannot figure it out. However, I will move on and try to read through my speech. What we have before us is a wrecking amendment. It is a decision to shut down a survivors' Bill before it even reaches Committee Stage. It is a choice to protect the comfort of the State instead of the rights of the dead and their families. The proposal to delete all words is a hard "No" - a hard rejection - for the victims. The Government amendment is clear. It is a polite way of saying "we will not even talk about changing the laws in any serious way." It is an objection to counting missing burial records, unusually high death rates and evidence that these are burial sites. It is a sign that we need to act. It shows that the Government side does not want high infant death rates in institutions to be treated as a red flag. It does not want missing burial records to be treated as a red flag. It does not want the State to say that where there is strong smoke, we must look for fire. Survivors, human rights experts and an Oireachtas committee have said the opposite. The Joint Committee on Children and Equality read the same mother and baby home report that we all did. It was absolutely shocking around the missing records, which is a clear sign of harm. I have heard Senators in here this evening talking about speculation. Let us be honest; it is not speculation. There are children buried in all parts of this country. Whether we like it or not, we have to be honest about it. Imagine how hurtful it is for survivors listening to Senators calling it "speculation". In the case of Tuam, they had to find evidence first. It was not just speculation; it was the truth. One thing about us as a country is that we do not really like the truth. The Government's amendment also tells us that the 2022 Act is already very wide-ranging and allows investigations wherever the records show that this is warranted. I mean no disrespect when I suggest that the Minister, by deleting Senator Ruane's amendment, is saying that some babies matter more and some babies matter less. That is exactly the message that we are giving to the public this evening. Then we come to one of the most chilling lines in this amendment. It states that "there was no legal obligation on private burial grounds to keep a register of burials, and that high mortality rates could sadly sometimes be a feature of historical congregated settings". What does that sound like to survivors who are listening tonight? It sounds like the State is saying, "Well, deaths were high back then. What can you do?" It sounds like an attempt to normalise what we know was a cruel and absolutely appalling system. That the law did not force private graveyards to keep a register is not a defence. It is a reason we need stronger laws. That some institutions had shocking death rates is the strongest argument for full investigations. The State did not seek consideration when it took children from their mothers, when it sent women to laundries or when it signed adoption papers or buried babies in unmarked plots. The Civil Engagement Group's Bill recognises a simple principle. To vote for this amendment is to vote to close the door on survivors. Whether we like it or not, it is. It is telling them to be grateful for Tuam and not ask for more. That is not good enough. I urge my colleagues, especially on the Government benches, to vote against this amendment, to stand with the survivors and to stand for truth. The children and women in these unmarked graves had no voice in life. The least we can do now is to refuse silence them again. By voting against this Bill, that is exactly what the Government is doing. It is silencing mothers and babies. I thank Senator Ruane for not giving up and for pushing through. Even though the amendment will be voted down by the Government, I have no doubt Senator Ruane will continue with this very important work. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-25/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-25