Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I will allow him time to revert to me at the end of my couple of minutes. I thank him for outlining his priorities and I look forward to discussing them over time, but, probably like everybody else here, I want to discuss the issue of the mother and baby homes that arose in the past couple of weeks. I acknowledge all the people who contacted me and, I am sure, other members of the committee over recent weeks. I took the time to get back to each and every one of them personally. Many were from my constituency, Dublin Mid-West. It was important to get back to the people personally because a lot of the faith and trust in public representation needed to be restored after the events of recent weeks.

I also acknowledge the Minister's statement that he needs more openness, transparency and understanding of the wishes of the survivors of the mother and baby homes. That is fair enough but if the Government really wants to start rebuilding trust, it has to start examining the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation and the question of when it is to be published. The Minister stated that the Department received the report on 30 October. That is almost five days ago. Survivors need to know when the report will be published. Having to wait so long for it to be compiled and published only adds to the pain of survivors. Survivors have to be central to the process and the Minister must ensure they have confidence in the report when it is published. They have been waiting for decades for the full account of what happened in the institutions to be made public and for the abuse they suffered to be formally acknowledged. Any undue delay is unacceptable. I want to know the publication date of the report. If there is to be a delay, how long will it be?

I am aware that others have asked some of my questions but it is important that I ask them on behalf of the people who got in touch with me. What was the legal basis for proceeding with the Bill originally? What advice did the Data Commissioner give the Minister, and when was it given? What advice did the Attorney General give the Minister, and when was it given? What were the exact dates on which the Minister met the Attorney General on this matter?