Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and I absolutely understand. To clarify, determination on manifest inappropriateness will be made by the Government and not by the agency. Once the agency is established it will do the work so there will be no discretion on the part of the agency. It is a huge thing to exhume a body. In Ireland we have a culture of a resting place being a resting place and it is very significant to intervene to exhume a body. The legislation seeks to give the Government of the day criteria on which to make this significant decision. Where we have a situation with burials that are manifestly inappropriate, and we have all identified Tuam as such, the degree of the appalling nature of the treatment of the remains in this situation warrants this particular intervention.

As I have spoken about previously, and I am sure the Deputy knows, there are other sites where the relatives have diverse views as to whether or not to intervene. If we intervene we do so across an entire site so it is important there is a framework within which a Government can take a decision as to whether the situation of the particular remains on a site warrants the extreme nature of the type of intervention provided for under the Bill. I will continue to look at these criteria and I will take on board the points made by the Deputy. There does have to be a framework within which the decision is made.