The family of a survivor of residential abuse who is protesting outside the Dáil has written to the Minister for Education to express "grave concern" about the physical and mental health of their mother.
Today marks the 12th day of the hunger protest outside Leinster House by four survivors, in a bid to see their requests met for State support in response to what happened to them in industrial and reformatory schools.
The group wants individuals to be awarded a Health Amendment Act (HAA) card and a State contributory pension in response to what happened to them in their childhood and the consequences of this to their lives.
In the correspondence, seen by RTÉ News, the family expressed deep disappointment that it took eight days for the Department to meet with their mother, which the letter states "aggravated what is now a high-risk emergency".
The email to Minister Helen McEntee points out that the HAA card is not a luxury, but a lifeline and that a full pension would acknowledge the denial of education, freedom and dignity of the survivors.
It says that as a family, they are "devastated".
"We are watching our mother put her life in danger because she feels unheard and abandoned once again by the State that failed her as a child. Only the State has the power to right this wrong now."
A spokesperson for the department said the State had responded to the needs of survivors in a number of ways, including the establishment of a redress scheme, the provision of funding supports, through Caranua, and other initiatives.
The department said it was "very conscious of the enormous trauma which has been experienced by all survivors of abuse", and pointed out that the minister had met directly with the survivors concerned, to hear from them personally.
It said that the previous Government agreed in 2023 to provide for new and ongoing health and education supports, which will be rolled out very shortly, which marks a new phase in the State's response.
"The package of health supports includes the provision to survivors of the same medical card as that provided under the Magdalen Laundry and Mother and Baby Institutions schemes, and the provision of a health support payment to survivors who are resident outside the State," it said.
At Leaders' Questions in the Dáil yesterday, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said while he understood the concerns, there were no plans to meet the demands, and urged the protesters to end the hunger strike and engage with officials.
However, Maurice Patton O'Connell told RTÉ News that the protesters would engage with the Government but are not stopping their protest.
"This has been going on too long, 26 years, we're not stopping now. We've come too far now," he said.
