Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government commits to enabling citizens to overcome barriers they face. The Government made numerous commitments to introduce measures to protect women and children from abuse and violence. People will have faith in such commitments in the future only if the State makes good on wrongs of the past. The Tuam Home Survivors Network called today for the collection of DNA samples as a matter of urgency to ensure there is no delay in returning human remains to identifiable relatives for dignified burial. When the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, announced last year that there would be a full forensic examination of the site, the Tuam survivors felt a real wave of relief and hope.

However, as a result of the decision to grant another 12-month extension to the commission of investigation, members of that network state that they have lost faith in the process.

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