I plead with the Minister to use his power urgently to end the industrial and reformatory school survivors' hunger strike by immediately awarding a health amendment Act, HAA, card to all survivors as they deserve access to comprehensive healthcare to deal with the lasting effects of these institutions and by awarding a full contributory State pension for the unpaid work done by them many years ago. These survivors worked long hours, unpaid, saving the State and religious orders a significant amount of money. The survivors are owed fair financial recognition for their forced, unpaid labour. They did in fact receive State apologies from the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and former President, Mary McAleese, but that will not pay their bills. I know some of these survivors personally and I am aware they are not for turning. They will not change their minds unless they get what both they and I believe they are entitled to. I wish to put on the record of the House that I fully support the survivors. I implore the Minister to act decisively on this most urgent matter to avoid any further unnecessary suffering. Survivors of the Magdalen laundries are receiving an extra pension for the work they did while these survivors, who spent years in these institutions, are getting nothing.

I have been given a note in respect to that matter. I am very concerned that people have taken the extreme step of going on hunger strike. Like the Deputy, I urge them to reflect upon the potential damage they are doing to themselves by engaging in this. I will certainly speak to the relevant Ministers for the purpose of seeing whether a resolution can be obtained. From what Deputy Cahill says, the demands are relatively limited. However, there is an opportunity for people to discuss this and to seek to get agreement and resolution without the extreme action that is being taken at present.