Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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What makes me uncomfortable is the issue of what the Minister described as "manifestly inappropriate" and the criteria that are to be set down in the first instance by the agency to determine what is or is not manifestly inappropriate. Even if we take exhumation and investigation, is there a fear that the power of the coroner and the coronial process will be undermined? To refer to what Professor Scraton told the committee, 9,000, or 15%, of infants born in the institutions examined died there, in addition to the deaths of 200 mothers. We know the rates of mortality are extremely high and I would have thought this alone would be sufficient to ensure there is no ambiguity on the issue of the discretion of the Government of the day to put in place, or set up, an agency as it sees fit. If the number of deaths is so high, and if we know from the commission's reports that the mortality rate in institutions was extremely high, this in and of itself surely is worthy of investigation, such that a Minister cannot limit the power to investigate it if the Government of the day decided for economic reasons not to go there and not to open that casket because it could be at it for years and investigations could cost the State millions of euro.

If we go down the road in the Bill of being influenced by economic factors and not factors of transitional justice, such as the convention on enforced disappearances, the obligations of investigation and the rights to remedy, then we will come back to this down the line. I am on the side of the Minister but I want to be reassured by what he is telling us about the legislation being robust enough to ensure justice will not be denied in future to people or relatives and to those poor souls who have the right to justice. Forgive me as I do not mean to be rhetorical about this but I want to be sure we get it absolutely right.