Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This Government made commitments to survivors of the mother and baby homes but the audio testimonies they gave have suddenly been deleted. I can tell the Tánaiste how this has affected one of the survivors; it is only one story and every Member in the House would have heard similar stories from other survivors. When the lady in question read her so-called testimony in the written report, she realised that apart from the first two lines, the words on the paper were not those that came from her mouth. She was so appalled she cannot bring herself to read the rest of the report. She has said this has set her back - the opposite of what this process was supposed to do - but she was thankful the interview was recorded. At the weekend she was stunned to learn the recordings had been deleted. She is adamant she was never informed that this would happen.

The Tánaiste cannot blame people for questioning motives in this case. This lady is demanding to know why, when survivors have pointed out irregularities in the transcripts, the only real proof of the misrepresentation was suddenly deleted. Who approved the deletion of the tapes? This lady and all the survivors deserve answers.

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