Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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If any members or witnesses participating remotely experience sound or technical issues, please let us know through the chat function. Apologies have been received from Senator Ned O'Sullivan. I remind members who are participating remotely to keep their device on mute until they are invited to speak. When they are speaking, I ask, where possible, that they have their camera switched on and be mindful that we are in public session. I remind members of the constitutional requirement that members must be physical present within the confines of the place in which Parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House or the Convention Centre Dublin, to participate in public meetings. I will not permit members to participate if they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Any member who attempts to participate in the meeting from outside the precincts will be refused.

Before I move to the matter under consideration this afternoon, I wish to take a couple of minutes to read into the public record a short statement on behalf of the committee in response to the refusal of the former members of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters to appear before the committee. The publication of the report has resulted in a great deal of commentary in various circles, most importantly from survivors who participated in the process. Many relived traumatic and painful experiences in an attempt to have their voices and stories heard and to assist in healing their suffering. It was only natural to expect that, following the publication of the report, such commentary would take place. The committee, following contact from a number of participants, wished to afford the former members of the commission an appropriate forum to engage with genuine questions on behalf of survivors. We believe that this would have been a helpful process. Unfortunately, once again, members of the commission have decided to decline the invitation to address the committee.

On behalf of members of the committee and on my own behalf, I assure survivors of these institutions that this committee is committed to prioritising in its work programme the progression of matters that come before it which impact on the lives of survivors. The aim of the committee is always to ensure that such matters are treated in a respectful and balanced manner. As members of an Oireachtas committee, we are disappointed by the decision of the members of the commission to share their response to the invitation request with media outlets before the members of this committee had the opportunity to comprehensively consider the response. While the committee has to accept the refusal of the former members of the commission to appear before the committee, members have agreed to publish the response received from Ms Justice Yvonne Murphy to the committee's web page. We decided at our private meeting earlier today that we would meet and work closely with the Minister and Department on the next steps in this process. We remain committed to working with survivors and their representative groups to ensure that their voices are heard.