'Wrong, shocking, and should never have happened': Government apology for institutional abuse

25.02.2026.

The Taoiseach has made an apology to survivors of institutional abuse, saying "too many of our children were denied the love, care, and security that should have been theirs".

The apology follows a protest by four survivors outside Leinster House seeking additional supports for survivors of abuse in residential institutions. These included a formal apology, and a confirmation by the justice minister that no survivors have a criminal record just by virtue of having been in an industrial or reformatory school.

Maurice Patton O'Connell, Mary Donovan, Miriam Moriarty Owens, and Mary Dunleavy Greene went without food for more than a month, surviving on coffee and water. The four were in the Dáil gallery for the apology.

In the Dáil, Micheál Martin said that the abuse suffered by those in residential institutions "was wrong, shocking and should never have happened".

"Abuse ruined their childhood and was and remains an ever-present part of their adult lives, reminding them of a time when they were without support or protection."

Mr Martin said that the 2009 Ryan Commission detailed "disturbing and significant levels of historic abuse of children who were placed by the Irish state in residential institutions, particularly industrial schools and reformatories run by religious orders". He said that the knowledge of institutional abuse had led to a complete overhaul of Ireland's child protection framework which was now a "proactive, state-managed system focused on the rights and safety of the child".

Mr Martin said that over €1bn in redress payments has been paid by the State to individual survivors of abuse in industrial schools, reformatories and related institutions through the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme and the Education Finance Board.

"First, I want to say I fully recognise that for those who suffered institutional abuse, the traumatic impact has been enduring. The deep personal toll that it has taken on the lives of survivors was brought home to me again in my recent engagements with the group who are here today.

"I am very sorry for what was done to you. I apologise on behalf of the State for the abuse and neglect that you suffered. What happened to you was wrong, shocking and should never have happened."

Mr Martin said the Government "recognises the suffering and damage that this abuse has caused, and we will continue to support you as much as possible".

Tánaiste Simon Harris said that it was right to hear the realities of abuse.

"We have heard, as we should, in this House on many occasions, of the systematically cold and harsh treatment of children and the endemic culture of abuse which went unchecked in our State for far too long.

"It is right that we should hear these harsh truths in this House, and it is right that we should apologise for them. In truth, we can never apologise enough for what happened."

Sinn Féin TD for Kerry Pa Daly said that the blame for the abuse lay with the state, not just the institutions that oversaw it. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said that the children had been "tortured by religious orders and a complicit state". She added that the state is "still failing them" and said that survivors had been forced to go on hunger strike "just to get what they should have been entitled to".