To get back to where I was, there are anomalies in the system. Much of what I wanted to say has already been delivered by the Minister in his own speech, so I will not go into the historical background of John's case. However, there are anomalies in the system. We are very privileged in this country to have the civil servants we have working in Departments. I firmly believe there is no civil servant who goes out of his or her way to block people or payments. Legislation is civil servants' rule book and they have to…

Some great stories have been told in the past few days about the capture of the MV Matthew and the drugs haul in 2023. What a fantastic story it is. If anybody has not read it, please go to The Journal and read Niall O’Connor’s description of the capture of that ship. We pulled together the agencies of the State, namely, the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners and the Defence Forces. The time and effort that went into the capture of that ship are simply unbelievable. The story is online and people should read it. The …

The weekend of 12 and 13 July is a weekend of commemoration and remembrance. The Royal British Legion's annual event at Islandbridge takes place on 12 July and the Irish commemoration takes place on Sunday, 13 July. As president of the Connaught Rangers Association and a former member of the Royal Irish Rangers, I will be there. I encourage people to be there. As a nation, we have grown up, and we have started to commemorate our fallen. Several thousand of our countrymen died during the First World War and Second W…

It was €30 million worth, nonetheless. It is wonderful to see how the security services can work together to stop gun runners and drug runners. The sad thing is that we do not have sufficient naval cover to cover the entire coast.

This morning at a meeting of the defence committee we heard how Defence Forces personnel take their instructions from the Department and from the Minister when it comes to policy issues. Last week, we had a meeting about the shortage of air traffic controllers and we were assured everything was in hand. I learned over the weekend that the offer of the bounty if you want to remain in service was not made until late on Friday and it had a requirement that those serving had to be at least eight years in the job and ha…

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

Let us never forget about the institutions we are talking about and that the horrific things that took place in these institutions was known far and wide within our society. I remember the great threat as a child was that if you misbehaved, you would find yourself in Letterfrack. People knew that if you went there, you were going to be subjected to brutality, at least, if not other sorts of abuse. Key people in our society knew what was going on. Doctors, nurses and teachers knew what was going on. Blind eyes were …

It is not the same letter. There are two different letters. Given what we are talking about and the years and years of pain and suffering, ten minutes of the Seanad's time will not kill anybody.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I am not going to take a lot of time on this. My colleague, Senator Boyhan, said more than any of us could say. The passion with which he speaks is incredible, and I am proud to call him my friend. Ordinarily, I would be against a motion seeking something to be laid before the House in 12 months, but on this occasion I support this for one reason and one reason only. By looking for it to be reported on a 12-month basis, it means it constantly remains in public sight. From that point of view, I believe it is highly …

There is a lot I would like to say but as my colleague, Senator Victor Boyhan, pointed out in his various contributions during the passage of the Bill, we are here to give voice to the voiceless. With the permission of the Cathaoirleach, I have been granted permission to read a letter from Sheila O'Byrne into the record of the Seanad. These are her words, not mine: I Sheila O Byrne, who is an Institutional Church and State Survivor Mother, incarcerated in Mother and Baby institution I am writing this letter as I ha…

Last night, we held an unscheduled meeting of the Joint Committee on Defence and National Security to explore the crisis in the Air Corps. When that crisis first emerged, the Taoiseach was asked about what was happening and he said it was a matter for military management and its to solve. Military management is not the Accounting Officer for the defence situation in Ireland. Leading up to last night's meeting, my research showed me that it was apparent in 2017 that we were heading for a crisis in the Air Corps as r…

The Minister is welcome to the House. I support my colleague, Senator Boyhan, in the withdrawal of our amendment No. 1. I went to the UK as a very young man. Many of us left in the late 1960s and it is only by the grace of God that we have not finished up in a one-bed flat or bedsit with nothing to look forward to and very little to look back on. As Senator Boyhan said, some people were forced out of this country. They had to flee because of the circumstances in which they found themselves. Those are particularly s…

I second the amendment.

My colleagues previously spoke about education and the withdrawal of the service after three years. Having an advocacy group like Sage means that the door is open. It is a one-stop-shop where the victims of institutional abuse can go to get the information they need and perhaps engage in education and many other things. Some time ago, I brought a delegation from the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel to Portsmouth to see how the advocacy group there operated. Outside the door of what used to be a sailors…

I, too, want to support Senator Stephenson's amendment. I have a difficulty with the way we use the possibility of a charge on the Exchequer to say that certain amendments must be rejected. There is no absolute charge on the Executive by having an advocate in place. As my colleague Senator Boyhan has just pointed out, most of the people we are talking about are in their 60s. Most of them contributed to this State with their labour and got nothing in return. If people have to pay for advocacy, it should not be the S…

Getting back to the appointment of a special advocate, the Bill will lay on the State and the HSE statutory rights that people have. What do we do when those statutory rights are ignored? How do we resolve that? The only way we can get a remedy is to go to the courts. The Minister and I know that if you take the State to court, it has deep pockets and will keep you in the courts until you die. Having an advocate in place who will take up the cause and bring it to public attention might move something to happen. The…

I wish to raise a couple of issues. Anything that imposes a charge on the Exchequer can be ruled out of order. Printing the documentation was a charge on the Exchequer. We are a bit selective in that regard. I want to go back to the contributory pension. My colleague, Senator Boyhan, made a point about the religious institutions, some of which have not yet made the contribution that is expected of them. Let us talk about people who were forced into labour. I visited a farm down the country where there was a rather …