Ms Doireann Ansbro:

As the representatives of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission referenced, there is no simple answer to that question. It is a difficult question. On the one hand, the Government has an obligation to carry out effective investigations. However, we must remember that this process has to be survivor and family-oriented from the start to the end. That point cannot be emphasised enough. Ms Fitzpatrick said it well a few minutes ago when she noted that can happen at every stage, including the drafting and implementation stages of the legislation, when sites are being identified and decisions are being made as to whether to carry out excavations or exhumations, and when decisions are made on what happens thereafter. As we said in our opening statement, there are diverse views among families and survivors.

As regards Bessborough, in particular, we must remember that the commission stated there were 859 bodies of babies missing, so that potentially affects 859 families.

I do not know how many families we have reached out to but a clear, fundamental and primary thing we must do is to take an active role in reaching out to as many families as possible. We then need to engage each and every family at every stage. Different wishes will come up and it is vital that we engage at every stage and honour those wishes as much as possible. I do not have a simple answer today but what is very clear is that we must take on board what families and survivors want and do our best to ensure that what they want is respected in how we deal with these mass graves.