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

On Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, Deputy Rabbitte's primary question has to do with the number and scope of institutions being investigated and whether that is sufficient.

Obviously, the number was determined by the terms of reference. This is what the commission is engaged in, that is, reviewing the work to date and discussing some of these issues with us. What is most important about the work of the commission, at least from my perspective, has to do with the results of what it is currently undertaking, particularly in terms of the confidential committee that was established as well as the development of a social history for the period of 1922 to 1998. There is much more work going on there than was originally anticipated in both of those contexts because more individuals have come forward. There has been an active campaign to invite persons, whether adults who were babies in these institutions or staff who worked there, to come forward to give their confidential evidence to the committee and for it to understand and interpret what was going on.

In terms of the social history module, what was found was that the social history of that time was not comprehensive and there were many inaccuracies. Therefore, more unanticipated archival work is being done in order to bring together what will, hopefully, be an extremely significant contribution to our understanding of what happened and why. That work will, therefore, presented to us, the Government and the State, to determine the most appropriate response. Prior to making a decision about whether there would be a need for the commission do additional work, in terms of extending its scope or scale, it is rational and appropriate to first hear from and see what the commission uncovers, particularly in regard to those two key aspects of its work. I can also assure members, in terms of my own personal commitment to women in the past and the children of these women, that given the extreme and terrible difficulties and challenges and wrong that they no doubt faced, it is another top priority of mine to examine what comes out of the commission and whether or not it is important to extend it.

The Growing Up in Ireland survey is mostly on target and the cross-departmental group that overseas it with my Department is satisfied with the progress. Phase one was completed and phase two has commenced. The field work was slightly delayed but we will get back on track.

It is good that Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked about the voice of the child and young person. Obviously, it is central to the role of my Department to ensure that the voice is heard and, more importantly, influences the policy. A number of works and products that came out of that part of the work of the Department and the voices of children coming forward finished in 2015. These are on my desk and I am trying to go through them to ensure that they influence policy and that it is not merely a report on a shelf.

We lead in many consultations in our own policy areas but we also support the consultations with respect to other Departments. There are a few pieces of work, which await completion and which we want to publish as soon as possible.

We will be building on this further by establishing a participation hub which will be a central, accessible resource to Government Departments, State agencies and NGOs where it can be administered and receive indications of interest on what needs to be done as well as moving that forward. I am delighted that Ireland was the first country in Europe to publish a participative strategy across Government.

I will now turn to the Official Languages Act. The Department is compliant, the scheme is in place in it and we are conscious of the needs regarding the child care resources. There is no specific requirement for an Irish language qualified person on the staff of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs but staff are supported to develop Irish language skills through training. The Department is recruiting one staff member from the Irish qualified panel to assist us with the work of the child care elements.