Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the House that the fact that we have given the commission an extension of one year to finish its work will not impact on the timeline for the excavations at Tuam. They will happen on the basis of the timeline indicated previously. The Minister and I heard what was asked for by some of the elderly former residents of the mother and baby home in Tuam and will certainly give it consideration. In order to take DNA samples from the remains, we require legislative authority and that will require the passing of legislation in this House. While that does not apply to adults voluntarily providing DNA samples, we need to make sure that we have the science right. We do not want to take samples from people and then find out that they cannot be used later on. There is a scientific issue around laboratories and so on but on the face of it, the request appears to be a reasonable one. People are getting on in years and are afraid that they will pass on before this is done. We understand the request and are sympathetic to it but we need to make sure that it is doable and that we do not end up taking samples that cannot be used.

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