Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Deputy highlighting the need for urgency. I feel it too, especially when I meet those involved. I met some of them two evenings ago at the extraordinary exhibition at the National Museum that I launched. It was called "(A)ddressing our Hidden Truths" by Alison Lowry.

The Deputy made one point about how the commission should have had broader terms of reference to consider illegal registrations or adoptions. The commission is looking at the issue of adoptions to the extent that it has to do with what happened in the mother and baby homes. We are doing another block of work at the same time in the light of what Tusla has found. In some ways, it is good that it is happening in parallel, as distinct from widening the terms of the commission. Already it has so much to do that it has had to delay. Things are happening in parallel, which is good, especially in the context of the need for urgency and the questions to be answered. I hope the Deputy agrees with me on the process in approaching the matter of illegal registrations first through the use of sample methodology, etc. and then reviewing what has been found. That is a reasonable way to look at the wider issues involved. That is what I am hoping to do.

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