Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I cannot accept these amendments. If they were accepted they would fundamentally change the legislation in what it is trying to achieve. Based on these amendments, if a person dies while resident in an institution, and that is any residential facility in respect of which a public body had or has a relevant role, that alone would be sufficient reason for the Government to consider making an order to intervene. These amendments will allow for interventions in cases where inappropriate burials had not been discovered. That is at odds with the original Government decision for bringing forward this legislation. It would result in major changes to the Bill and would change the underlying objective of the legislation.

The intention was to create a lawful basis for a forensic excavation, recovery, analysis and identification of remains at an institutional site where manifestly inappropriate burials had occurred. The site at the former mother and baby institution in Tuam is an example of one such site. What is proposed here is a fundamental change to what this legislation would do, and it is not one that we should endorse at this stage or within this Bill. I would also have a concern, and it is a concern that I will repeat in responding to other amendments, that these amendments could impact on other legislative measures and particularly interfere with the jurisdiction of the coroner and An Garda Síochána. For those reasons, I cannot accept the amendments.