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The government has won a key vote in the Dáil on its controversial mother and child home legislation by a substantial margin of 78 votes to 67.
However, opposition parties have harshly criticized both the bill and the government’s refusal to accept any amendments.
In September, the Mother and Baby Household Investigation Commission said tailor-made legislation would be required to safeguard and transfer a database of mothers and children residing in primary mother and baby homes.
The bill mandated that the database be sent to Tusla, raising concerns among former residents of the homes and their families about their ability to access information held by the Agency for Children and Families.
Under a 2004 law, the remaining files will be sealed for 30 years.
Last Friday, the bill passed all stages in the Seanad.
In a statement to RTÉ News after the Dáil vote, Social Democrat TD Holly Cairns said: “I asked the minister from the beginning if he would consider any of the amendments tabled by the TDs that are based on the contributions of survivors and Human rights experts? He said no.
“It is a shame that after pleas from survivors of institutional abuse, the government will not even consider one of the more than 60 opposition amendments.”
Ms Cairns said the government had voted through a bill “without adequate pre-legislative scrutiny and without the participation of survivors.”
My stomach hurts that the state has once again disappointed so many. We will continue to fight for justice. # Stand4Truth pic.twitter.com/PnlMaWOmJz
– Holly Cairns TD (@HollyCairnsTD) October 22, 2020
“We are talking about the most serious types of human rights violations: missing children, enforced disappearances, illegal adoptions and much more horrible systematic institutional abuses,” he said.
“The mother and baby homes commission was formed in light of the discovery of 800 dead children and babies in a misused septic tank,” added Ms Cairns.
“It is disgusting that the minister did not consider those affected and then would not even consider the amendments that I and other DT submitted, amendments based on contributions from survivors and human rights experts,” he said.
Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly said on social media that she was “devastated by the survivors of institutional abuse.”
Devastated by survivors of institutional abuse
No wonder they feel betrayed tonight
The Greens had their way in the Dáil: records will be sealed
This is heartbreaking #StopTheSeal pic.twitter.com/a8ASIIeXGm– Louise 👻oooOOOOooo🎃Reilly TD for Dublin Fingal (@loreillysf) October 22, 2020
Labor Party member Seán Sherlock declared that the entire debate had been a “sham” because Minister O’Gorman refused “to accept any amendment.”
Bríd Smith of People Before Profit tweeted: “Never forget this.”
Independent TD Catherine Connolly called the minister’s refusal to accept amendments “shocking.”
The three parties of the coalition were supported by two TDs from the Regional Group.
The Sinn Féin bill, Labor, Social Democrats, Solidaridad / People Before Profit, five TDs from the Regional Group, the Independent Rural Group and the Independent Group opposed the bill.
The Ceann Comhairle told the Dáil that the bill will now go back to the Seanad for further scrutiny.
A request for a physical vote, rather than an electronic vote, was rejected because the margin between Yes and No was greater than 10.
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