James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy has just come into the Chamber, I will reiterate what I have said already, even though Deputies Troy and Ó Caoláin may now have heard it twice. To put it in context, as the Deputy is aware, I announced the proposed terms of reference for the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes and certain related matters last week. In developing the terms of reference, due regard has been given to the emphasis on mother and baby homes in the motion approved by Dáil Éireann on 11 June 2014. I believe the terms of reference reflect the range of matters the Government was asked to consider by this House, as well by those most centrally affected by the issues, and are a fair and balanced response to the many requests for related issues to be included. In particular, the investigation will examine thoroughly the experiences of the many mothers and children who were resident in a mother and baby home over the period from 1922 to 1998.

Since the decision to establish this investigation was announced, there have been calls for the inclusion of a wide range of institutions. The approach taken to ensuring the requisite level of specificity has been to identify mother and baby homes for the purposes of this investigation. The criteria used include having the main function of providing sheltered and supervised ante and postnatal facilities to single mothers and their children, including both board and lodgings, and an ethos which those running the institutions considered to promote a regime of work, training or education as part of an overall approach to either rehabilitating single mothers or giving them training for living independently. On the basis of the available information, it would not be appropriate to consider the institutions raised by the Deputy as mother and baby homes in this same context. They did not provide this specific range of services.

However, where such institutions had a relationship or relationships with a mother and baby home, the role played by these institutions can be examined within the commission's work. In particular, the commission is tasked with examining the extent to which other institutions were part of the entry or exit pathways for single mothers and children into or leaving these homes. Linked to this examination, the commission will consider the practices and procedures relating to the placement of children outside of mother and baby homes.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

This will examine where there was co-operation with another person or persons in arranging this placement, including where an intermediary organisation arranged a subsequent placement. It will also examine the procedures that were in place to obtain consent from mothers in respect of adoption and whether these procedures were adequate for the purpose of ensuring such consent was full, free and informed.

As I have outlined to the House in response to earlier questions from Deputy Ó Caoláin, the proposed arrangements also ensure the commission has sufficient opportunity to bring any additional matter which it considers may warrant investigation to my attention. I am confident that the appointment of Judge Yvonne Murphy as chair, together with historian Professor Mary Daly and international legal expert on child protection and adoption, Dr. William Duncan, to this commission will allow for a comprehensive assessment of the issues and for well-grounded reports and recommendations in due course.

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