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

We are proceeding in a statutory way with this proposal, which will need to be based in statute. The Deputy has made a suggestion and has on a number of occasions raised a point about a general repudiation of the commission's report. That raises fundamental questions. If this Government takes a decision to repudiate a report that is disagreed with, what will happen when a commission of investigation report is undertaken, criticises a future Government and that Government decides to repudiate that report? The Deputy may disagree with me on this point but a decision by a Government to repudiate an independent commission of investigation report has serious consequences that may be unforeseen.

There are undoubtedly legitimate criticisms of elements of the commission's report. There is also material of considerable value in that report. It is clearly documented and evidenced in the report that the State knew what was happening in these institutions and failed to act. Inspectors from the Department with responsibility for local government were writing reports stating that children in these institutions were not being properly fed and that children and mothers were dying. That was ignored by officialdom. I do not want those findings repudiated. That is an important element of the findings. That is on the specific issue of this report. There is also a broader issue about a Government making a determination to repudiate an independent report and the precedent that would set.