Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 3 November 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs

Sustainable Development Goals and Departmental Priorities: Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I heard everything Deputy Flaherty said. I agree with everything he said and thank him for his comments.

We can give a full assurance that there will be absolute disclosure of everything in this report. It is incredibly detailed. It contains 4,000 pages. It includes chapters on each of the mother and baby homes and a social history chapter that tries to give the context of Ireland in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, looking at Dáil debates and what was happening in wider society and also looking at specific themes across the times, including adoptions and deaths in the mother and baby homes. It deals with a range of matters. There will be very detailed information for society in general. There is a chapter on the confidential committee, which we have spoken about a number of times in the debates. It consists of the contributions made by 550 individuals who spoke to the commission and gave their experiences in the mother and baby homes. Having read some of that, it is very difficult reading but we need this. We need to understand what happens. As members of different generations to whom this is completely alien, we need to understand what happened and put it in the context of supporting victims and survivors. Putting that central in everything we do, as the Deputy said, is essential. If Deputies are meeting any survivors groups that would like to engage with me, I would be happy if they put them in touch with me. I will arrange for that in my Department.