Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 10, line 36, to delete “and” and substitute “or”.

These amendments stress another restriction in the Bill. Currently, interventions are limited to situations where a person died while ordinarily resident in an institution and where the person was buried in a manifestly inappropriate manner. There are two criteria: the person must have died while a resident; and must be buried before the State may act. The requirement to meet both criteria is potentially a barrier and one should be sufficient. That a young woman, baby or child died in a home should be enough to trigger an intervention or that a young woman, baby or child is inappropriately buried should be enough to trigger an intervention. I am amazed at the principle that either of these circumstances alone is not serious enough to warrant potential interventions. The first recommendation of the committee's pre-legislative scrutiny report states that the Bill should not limit the extent to which the various sites can be investigated. The requirement to meet both criteria is a restriction that must be removed.