Dáil debates

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Third Interim Report from the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Statements

 

7:05 pm

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to update the House on the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes. In particular, I would like to update Deputies on the commission's third interim report and the measures I am progressing with Government colleagues to respond to the issues which have emerged so far from its work. I welcome the people in the Visitors Gallery who participated in influencing measures in this direction.

As Deputies will be aware, I published the third interim report from the commission in December last. In its report, the commission requested a one-year extension to the timeframe to submit its three final reports. The commission is of the opinion that all three reports, the confidential committee report, the investigative report and the social history module, are interlinked and should be presented together. Following careful consideration, the Government decided to grant this extension. The commission is now due to deliver all three reports by 17 February 2019. I know that many former residents have been eagerly awaiting the completion of the commission's work. I understand that many who contributed to the process and shared their information were disappointed and frustrated by this development. However, it is important that we do not underestimate the scale and complexity of the task that the commission has been set.

The commission is seeking to establish facts and make findings and recommendations. In outlining its reasoning for requesting an extension, the commission's third interim report states that the confidential committee has met a considerable number of former residents and others with connections to the institutions under investigation who wished to share their experiences. The commission asked for more time to allow those who had applied, and were still waiting to share their experiences with it, to be heard. Hearing these stories pays tribute to the memory of those who spent time in these places. The commission also stated that its wide terms of reference have necessitated the collection and analysis of a vast range of documentary material relating to the institutions under investigation. The analysis of all relevant records will not be completed until mid-2018. All of the information uncovered during the course of this investigation plays its part in painting as full a picture as possible of the events and experiences of the time.

I recognise the absolute importance of the commission's work and I support it as it continues to investigate the matters within its terms of reference. It is a comprehensive task and it needs time to complete its work. The commission concluded at the time of publishing the interim report that extending the terms of reference into any further matters was not in the public interest, and I agree with this approach. In recent days the commission has advertised nationally seeking to hear from anyone who has any personal knowledge, documentation or any other information concerning the burial arrangements of children who died in Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork. I would strongly encourage any person with relevant information to contact the commission directly to divulge what they know to aid the investigation.

Over the course of 2017, I held two facilitated meetings with former residents and their families, one in Dublin and one in Cork. More than 130 former residents of mother and baby homes and their advocates were in attendance. I thank all who attended these meetings and acknowledge the generosity, willingness and courage of all participants in contributing to the dialogue. One cannot but be moved by their stories. The key theme that emerged from these facilitated consultations was "nothing about us without us", the idea being that former residents want direct input into the decisions made on their behalf. I have adopted this as my mantra. The establishment of a collaborative forum is a progressive response to this idea. Participants will create and drive forward a process that they can support and trust and actively participate in, recommending actions and solutions to address their concerns.

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Gerry Kearney has accepted my invitation to chair the collaborative forum. Over the course of his career, Mr. Kearney has demonstrated a strong commitment to public service as former secretary general of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. He was appointed chairman of the Moore Street consultative group established to consider views on the best way forward for Moore Street, a monumental task in diplomacy I think Deputies will agree. I strongly believe that gives him the expertise and management experience required to work with the forum. His experience will be of considerable benefit to the forum in developing proposals and framing its recommendations. I know that Mr. Kearney is looking forward to beginning what we hope is an extremely engaging and fruitful endeavour.

I have published a charter for the forum that will facilitate its work and that gives the blueprint for its methodology and demonstrates my commitment to innovative approaches to facilitate and empower former residents to contribute actively to decisions on matters that affect their lives. The forum will consist of 20 members. I am moving forward in identifying members for the selection panel that will establish the collaborative forum. Selection of the correct people is critical to the success of the project. The selection panel will include representation from the areas of human rights, former residents' advocate groups and academics with experience in this field. I have made contact with these organisations and individuals and I am now awaiting confirmation of their agreement to participate. I hope to announce the members of the panel shortly. I hope they will have held their first meeting by the end of February. I will then be advertising for members of the public and interested parties to express an interest formally in participating in the forum. The selection panel will select the members of the forum from these expressions of interest at its second meeting, which should take place in early March. I anticipate that the collaborative forum will meet on a monthly basis for a period of at least a year. If it reaches consensus on any issues before then, however, I will of course be happy to hear from it.

The forum will establish three sub-committees, which will cover a large range of issues of concern to former residents, such as terminology, identity and representation for former residents; health and well-being supports; memorialisation; and the recording of personal narratives. I thank the Government for its support in establishing the collaborative forum. I look forward to the beginning of its work.

I have previously relayed my commitment to the House to inviting the UN special rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Mr. Pablo de Greiff, to come to Ireland. I believe he can assist us in our endeavours to establish the truth and advise us on how best to move forward and deal with this part of our history. Arrangements are at an advanced stage and I expect an invitation to be issued to Mr. de Greiff in the coming days.

As we approach the anniversary of the tragic findings in Tuam in March 2017, I wish to update the House on the progress being made in responding to the discovery of the burial chambers. Deputies will know I commissioned a team of international experts to produce a technical report. It advises of five options, which are now available to us. The team was appointed to ensure that any action taken on the site is in line with international best practice. The report is a detailed technical document. It outlines the unique nature of the site and the vast technical challenges involved. The options range from memorialisation with no further excavations in option one to exhumation, forensic examination and further investigation of the wider site in options two to five. All options can include memorialisation and appropriate internment at the site.

Having visited the Tuam site several times, I am extremely conscious that this is a very sensitive and difficult matter for many former residents, their families and those living in the vicinity of the site. I want to ensure that everyone who wishes to contribute to the discussion on the future of the site has the opportunity to do so. I have asked Galway County Council to facilitate an independent consultation process on the five options as presented in the expert technical group's report. The contributions from these consultations will be used to produce a report that will inform the interdepartmental committee, which in turn will make proposals to me on these sensitive matters. I will bring these proposals to the Government for its final recommendation.

Galway County Council has asked interested parties to complete a questionnaire-type document to generate data to use as part of the consultation process. A number of families and representatives have contacted me to express their concerns about the approach and methodology used to gather information. It appears that some have likened it to a simplistic popular voting process. The process is far more comprehensive than that. I have raised these concerns with Galway County Council. I would like to assure the House that there is no intention to trivialise the memories or feelings of those wishing to partake in this process by using such a document. The key part of this process is to offer those with an interest to express their opinion and collate this information.

The consultation process has been designed to facilitate various parties while ensuring there is certainty in regard to the preferred course of action of each respondent. I expect Deputies will be asking me some questions or making comments on that. I look forward to coming back to this in my concluding remarks.

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