Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to know if the Taoiseach has raised with any members of the hierarchy, either formally via the kind of meetings which the Government has with leaders of faith communities or informally, the issue of the findings at the Tuam site.

In terms of the preparations which are being made for Pope Francis's visit to Ireland next year, will Pope Francis be afforded the opportunity to visit one of the many mother and baby home sites around the country? It is only right and proper that he should be invited, as the head of the Catholic Church worldwide, to visit at least one of the 139 or 140 institutions which feature in the examination of the commission on children who were in mother and baby homes.

Has the Taoiseach had any recent correspondence or contact, formally or informally, with the religious orders that were the subject of a nefarious deal between the then Government, the then Minister for Education and the then Taoiseach to allow an indemnity to be given to the orders in regard to their liability for these events? While we know there will have to be more redress for other people as a result of the current commissions of inquiry under way, following the publication more recently of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the €1.5 billion cost of the redress scheme so far, has the Taoiseach approached the congregations to meet their moral and ethical liabilities, of which we have heard an awful lot in regard to the Garda in recent days? Surely the religious bodies have moral and ethical responsibilities. Has the Taoiseach raised this with them in terms of the further sums they are willing to pay, which they owe and are committed to?

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