Yesterday, the Minister for Education and Skills, his party and the Government voted full confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality. It is clear that they all believe the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, to be a reforming, progressive and just Minister despite the series of debacles over which he has presided. The issues around the administration of justice and An Garda Síochána have not gone away but that is not what I wish the Minister for Education and Skills to address.

I call on the Minister to explain how it is that this reforming Minister for Justice and Equality refuses to acknowledge the survivors of the Bethany Home, those who went through the mother-and-baby homes or those citizens of the State who were illegally adopted. Yesterday, the 222 infants and children who died of neglect at the Bethany Home were, for the first time, officially recognised and mourned at a sobering ceremony in the cemetery at Harold's Cross. The State failed in its duty of care to these children.

In opposition, the Minister's party, the Labour Party, and Fine Gael acknowledged this grave injustice and promised to address it. However, it took a determined campaign on the part of the Bethany survivors to end the appalling indignity of the burial of these children in an unmarked grave. The Minister, the Government and the reforming Minister for Justice and Equality have flatly and coldly refused the Bethany survivors the dignity of recognition, the justice of a State apology or the decency of access to a redress scheme. That is totally unacceptable.

When the Government assumed office amid a fanfare of promises of reform, transparency and a new way of doing politics it had an opportunity to end this injustice. However, this Government, like the last, has turned its back on the Bethany survivors. Will the Government now finally face up to its responsibility to these citizens? Will it make an official State apology to the survivors? Will the Minister ensure that they have access to a State redress scheme?

I, personally, along with everyone in this House who has the benefit of living in a more enlightened time than that of our grandparents, automatically and instinctively empathise and sympathise with the people who had the experience of being abandoned, for whatever reason, and placed into child care homes, which were cold places for any child who could have expected to be brought up in a loving environment. The State looked back on the record of our predecessors, our forebears in this Chamber and those responsible for placing, with the authority of the State, people into institutions which subsequently turned out to be places of extraordinarily abuse. We are all familiar with that. I have had some experience in this regard and I have to say that the Government has not been satisfied that in the case of the people who were placed in the Bethany Home and who had a very difficult and harsh experience, which no one can excuse, agents of the State were responsible for placing those people into those homes.

Governments said the same about the Magdalen laundries.

It is a matter of dispute. The principal stands, that is, if sufficient and satisfactory evidence, that is conclusive and in form similar to that of other institutions where a response has been made, can be convincingly brought forward, then the Government is of course prepared to look at it, but so far we have not been convinced.

I do not accept as an excuse the fact that Ireland back in the day was a harsh and cold place, although that is absolutely true. As the Minister is aware, the Bethany Home was a maternity home, a children's home and a place of detention for women. The Minister knows, as I know, that the Bethany Home on Orwell Road in Rathgar, was subject to inspection under the Registration of Maternity Homes Act 1934. The Minister knows, as I know, that the State, under the Department with responsibility for local government as well as public health inspectors, has records cataloguing the deficiencies, defects and neglect in that home. There is a State record of the neglect and abuse. It exists and it is evident for the Minister. The Minister knows - he knew it on the Opposition benches as did all Members there - that the State failed these children.

It is not simply a matter of who placed the children in these homes. The issue is the failure of the State to oversee adequate and proper standards and to secure the safety of those citizens in that home.

Thank you, Deputy. A question, please.

The Minister knows this and the evidence is there; it has been presented to the Government. I call on the Minister in a spirit of justice for these survivors to quickly address the issue, to recognise their experience, having viewed the evidence, to acknowledge it, to apologise on behalf of the State for it and to allow them access to a redress scheme.

The Minister will also be aware of my final point. As it happens, the Bethany Home in Rathgar catered, for the most part, for children from the Protestant tradition. There is a deep hurt among survivors because they believe that they have been ignored by the State. This is doubly the case because they believe in some measure that they have been set aside because they came from a minority faith. It is essential that we do the right thing for these survivors, that we recognise their experience and put to rest any concern they may have that whatever about the old Ireland, in the new Ireland there is any form of discrimination against any citizen on the basis of religious beliefs.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Along with most people in the House, if not everyone, we share many of the sentiments she has expressed. I am prepared to request that the Department of Justice and Equality would look again at the information to see if something analogous or comparable with that of victims of institutional residential abuse or the Magdalen laundries can provide the basis for some reaching out and redress. That is all I can say at this point.