Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have to try my best and take the positives from what the Minister said, namely, that people are not being excluded if an entity has not been named. I hope that will prove to be the case. I ask the Minister to make his response and wishes in that regard patently and abundantly clear to the commission of investigation membership.

Child trafficking is not a new phenomenon. We know from the evidence that children were moved back and forth across the Border without proper or prior approval or recording. They were moved back and forth by individuals and entities with specific religious outlooks. It is critically important that the commission of investigation properly recognise this fact. Any advertising to inform people of the opportunities the commission will present must include advertising north of the Border, as well as in other settings in Britain, the United States and elsewhere. That is very important.

Will the Minister confirm the Northern dimension to this issue, including in respect of the entities which operated in the manner I described?

The Minister may not be able to answer my next question but I am flagging the issue now because we will have an opportunity to address it more substantively tomorrow. Is he in a position to advise if researchers will have access to the Clandillon index card file, which contains information on boarded out children? Does he have any idea where the file is held? Will it be among the documentation that will be required, sought and secured by the commission of inquiry in the course of its work?

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