Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an gcinneadh atá déanta ag an Rialtas coimisiún fiosrúcháin a bhunú. Is cúis áiféala é gur tharla na rudaí seo sa chéad áit, ach is maith an rud é go bhfuil an cinneadh seo tógtha.

I, too, welcome that the Government is to establish a commission of inquiry into mother and baby homes across this State. In the past week or so there have been horrific revelations in this regard, including that up to 800 children may have been buried in an unmarked communal plot at the site of a former mother and baby home in Tuam. It is alleged that a regime of neglect and malnutrition caused the deaths of these most vulnerable of our citizens. As we know, this was not an isolated case. Dozens of these homes were operated across Ireland from the late 1800s up to partition and then in this State up until the 1970s. It is clear that the women and babies had no rights. It is also clear from the harrowing accounts of survivors who in recent days found the strength to speak out that their lives were destroyed. It is well past time that the institutions and agencies of this State faced up to this shameful period. I commend the survivors and other activists, particularly the historians, who have kept faith on this issue.

I would like, if I may, to tease out the terms of reference of the proposed inquiry. As stated by the Taoiseach, it must be comprehensive. There are a number of key issues on which it must focus, including that of the imprisonment of pregnant women in mother and baby homes, the taking of babies from their mothers against their will, the cause of the shocking infant mortality rates at mother and baby homes, the circumstances surrounding the burial of children and babies who died at these homes, the routine illegal adoption and trafficking to the USA of an unknown number of children, and the subjection of children, without the consent of their mothers, to medical trials. There are other institutions that need to be included in this inquiry, including the Westbank Home in Greystones, County Wicklow, and similar institutions. Can the Taoiseach confirm that all these issues will be covered by the Government's commission of inquiry and, also, whether the commission will have full powers of compellability in relation to those whom it wishes to interview and full access to all records and documents, whether held by public authorities or private institutions?

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