Ms Amanda Larkin:

The Senator mentioned Tuam in terms of the housing estate, remains in gardens and stuff like that. To be clear, Tuam is a crime scene. The Government has come down and got public opinion in Tuam on what we wanted done in Tuam. It is a crime scene; it is not down to public opinion. The law does not go with public opinion. The law is the law.

The tombs were broken back in the 1970s by children and that is when the coroner and the Garda Síochána should have gone in and investigated Tuam. That is when the babies were let down for the second time. They were let down when they were let die and when they were lowered into a septic tank. Back in the 1970s, they were let down by the State, the coroner and the Garda Síochána that came with the church and covered it up in Tuam, and blessed the grounds. Deputy Cathal Crowe said that the legislation and related matters have been worked on here for weeks. This has been going on for a lifetime for the living witnesses. This has been going on for ten years for the families since Tuam was uncovered, since the news broke. It has been going on seven days a week and 24 hours a day since 12 January when the commission's report was made public.

Tuam is a crime scene and should have been excavated in the 1970s. What we feel about Tuam is not important. If we have to go into the playground and gardens then that is what has to be done but that is not my opinion or the opinion of politicians. That is the law. The law will bring us there if there are anomalies, which is what is believed to be the case.

The tax payers of Ireland paid for an expert team, in 2017, to do a dig and its recommendations have not been acted on. It recommended that a liaison team should be set up to deal directly with the families so that the families hear first what is happening and not through social media, which was brought up here on the last day when Tuam was discussed. That recommendation must be followed and picked up on.

The expert team recommended that the site should be excavated within six months. They said that because air and gases got in when they opened the tanks they have no idea what effect that would have on the remains. We are losing vital DNA and remains plus we have no idea what will have happened to the bones in that time. If extremely simple legislation is required to get the babies out of Tuam then let us do so. Every day that passes we are losing and it is another apology down the road that the Government will have to give to living witnesses saying "we're sorry that that happened and should have moved quicker". Four years have elapsed since the experts went into Tuam. However, my mother has spent 72 years fighting to find out who she is. She has reached the conclusion that she will never know for certain the identity of her mother and will never have a picture of her mother. She now seeks justice for the little ones in the tank because she could have been one of them. She wants their bodies recovered and treated with justice, and respect.