Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for being here today and for their strength and courage. I want to acknowledge that and the strength and courage of all of the survivors and their families. I am conscious that this part of our sessions today is technical and can seem a bit impersonal, although we are not trying to be. We only want to understand this and get it right. I apologise if it seems cold and insensitive. It is not intended to be.

My first question is for Dr. McCullagh. She spoke about the humanitarian forensic approach and considerable time and expertise being required. I took from her contribution as well her particular involvement and direct experience in Tuam. We need to look at this beyond Tuam and from the full State's perspective.

Can Dr. McCullagh give the committee some view on the scale of expertise and time that will be required, the process that will be involved and, most importantly, the time that will be involved in terms of the survivors and their relatives being given some answers? As the work will obviously be conducted over a prolonged period of time, what is best practice in communicating progress over a long period of time to survivors?