Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Government is committed to continuing to work to ensure the remains of people who seem to have been, for the most part, summarily and brutally executed and buried in lonely sites around the country. It behoves parties whose one-time sister organisations were involved in this to give the maximum support to the moves to recover the remains. Some minutes ago, Deputies in the Chamber from Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin raised the issue of people in mother and baby homes. In respect of the family of Jean McConville, most of the children ended up in care and in difficult circumstances for most of the rest of their lives. As we make strides in the Republic to address our past, it is important that parties in this Chamber that have influence over the perpetrators, the people who carried out these brutal executions, particularly when we hear the enormous criticisms made at every turn of every procedure in this part of the island, and it would be welcome to have expressions of regret here in respect of what happened.

If it is confirmed to be the remains of Mr. Megraw, I hope it helps the family to have a proper place of burial for their brother. Both his parents have now passed on but other family members have said that it would bring them some comfort. It is important to say that if anyone out there has influence or knowledge, it would be an act of great mercy and charity to provide information.

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