Ms Doireann Ansbro:

I did not respond to the first part of the Senator's earlier question concerning whether we thought that investigations could happen without bodies. They absolutely can, and I want to be clear that we are not saying the only way to vindicate the right to truth is through exhumations. We are stating that the way to vindicate the right to truth is through investigations, and they can take different approaches. What I understand from what I have heard and read before is that some families who do not want exhumations still want excavations, meaning that they want the place where bodies are to be identified but not necessarily for the bodies themselves to be exhumed. That is certainly an option.

Returning to the survivor, family-led approach, if there can be a decision which can respect the rights of everyone as much as possible, then that is the way forward. It is important to remember, however, that there are different options when we are talking about vindicating the right to truth and even about identifying the cause of death, because potentially it may not be possible to identify the cause of death by identifying the remains of one body. Regarding an investigation into the general circumstances at the time, it could even be a case of compelling witnesses who still have knowledge of what happened at that time and looking into records and accessing records we know exist but that we have not been able to access.

All those aspects are pieces of the puzzle in respect of solving the question of how these babies died and why their bodies were buried in this manner. If we can identify where the bodies are, that will certainly be one stage of this process. Memorialisation is crucial. No matter what the different stages are before, the idea of restoring faith and dignity is crucial and it is a fundamental part of what all of us here should be doing. Certainly, what should be in the proposed Bill is the idea of restoring the dignity of those to whom it was lost not only in life but in death. That should be a fundamental and primary purpose of what we are doing here.