Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and I welcome him. All of us have many questions to ask. I have been contacted by survivors in recent days looking for the commission to be extended because of all the unanswered questions. I thought what one particular survivor wrote was really sad. She said she was tired and she wanted her history. I thought she deserved that.

Why were only 18 institutions covered by the commission's terms of reference? The commission had five years. The term was extended up to five years. We all know there are county homes in our areas, including Carlow, in respect of which questions need to be answered. It reminds me how if someone hands another person a book, the book is only half a book rather than a full book. That is a major concern.

I understand the commission is an independent body. However, I was disappointed that two members of the commission refused to attend our meeting. I have concerns about that. It is important that we get all our answers.

What efforts were made to trace and interview survivors in America, the UK and other countries? We have a vast number of questions. I have been asked that several times recently.

Other issues jump out at me. Why did the commission recommend redress be given only to those who had spent more than six months in the mother and baby homes and only up to 1973? We cannot have limits if we are to offer redress.

I have another question on unauthorised adoptions. I have spoken with survivors who were wrapped in blankets, handed to an attendant on an airplane and flown 7,000 miles to be given away to a new family. There were no paperwork or records. We know that thousands of children were adopted in the USA without legal paperwork in the middle part of the previous century. Why was this missing? Why was even part of that not in the commission report?

I have concerns that there is no recommendation in the report that would honour the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Every child should have, as far as possible, the right from birth to know his or her parents and to preserve his or her own identify, including nationality, name and family relations. To me, that is so important.

I welcome that we are bringing in legislation. I believe it is important to ensure that legal and illegal adoptions can be traced. This is a major issue and we have to get this right.

I wish to comment on one of the major questions I have been asking and everyone has been asking the same question today. In October, we had a major vote on the mother and baby homes to protect files. We were there to protect them, yet today we are being told that in the report from the commission information and recordings were destroyed. Can the Minister explain what exactly we voted for in October when we voted to protect information on the mother and baby homes? There has been confusion about this. These questions need to be answered. I call on him to come back to me on them.